Baker's Love
by fowl68
Summary: Sasuke shouldn't question the deceptive charm of bakers. Especially bakers with scars. AU Eventual SasuNaru For freexflyer
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer:** Dear God, I have to type this thing again? *sigh* I don't own anything in this fic. The songs are Tears of Pearls and I Want You by Savage Garden.

**Author's Note:** Hey everyone, I'm back and with a new fic! I kinda got this idea from watching Pushing Daises, which I just got Season 1 on DVD! This one's for freexflyer with special thanks for sticking with me for so long.

-~-~-~-~-

"_God gave angels wings, but he gave humans chocolate."-Anonymous_

-~-~-~-~-~

Music flowed down the street and no one had a second thought about it. The music flowing from the small bakery/café on the corner had long since become a part of their normal routine, although the songs were never the same twice in a row. The small café had shown up about a year ago and was known as a hangout for the college a few blocks away.

And running to this café was a certain pinkette who shall be known as Haruno Sakura was late for work. She ran into the café, the radio on the shelf behind the counter playing some new song, and a familiar expression of blonde eyebrows rising in a familiar face met her over the counter. Naruto had owned the place since his godfather died a year and a half ago. His godfather had run a bookstore of 'questionable materials' as Naruto put it.

Naruto was taller than Sakura by a little more than half a head with her heels on. And oh, why had she worn the heels?! Her feet were killing her from that run! Naruto's blonde hair was trapped in a bandana, something she knew had taken him some work because his hair was the messiest in existence, and the cobalt orbs he called eyes were sparkling with amusement. Naruto wore the apron tied around his waist and never around his neck. It made him uncomfortable, he said. He usually Sharpie'd all of his aprons with something interesting. His current apron? It read Mrs. Lovett's Meat Pies.

Sakura had _told _her best friend/brother that wearing an apron with something from a musical about cannibalism in a bakery of all things wasn't with the work ethic. His answer? A laugh and a shake of the head.

"What is it that makes you so late every day, Sakura?" A grin slowly began spreading across his lips as he turned to the oven, knowing she would know his expression. "A boyfriend you haven't told me about perhaps?"

"Naruto, I swear to God, if you pull up that theory _one_ more time-" Sakura began when an apron was gently pushed in to her hands.

"You'll castrate me, cheerfully beat me to death and bring me back because you can't run this place on your own." Naruto smiled, planting a brotherly kiss on her forehead. "I know."

Sakura grumbled as she turned so he could tie the apron. She frowned at what it said. "Seriously, Naruto?"

He gave her an innocent look as he finished the bow at her waist.

"Kiss the cook? Anything original?"

"Well, I was gonna put something from _Silence of the Lambs, _but since you don't agree with cannibalistic aprons in a bakery…"

"Can't you ever just buy normal aprons, ones a solid color or with a normal pattern?"

"I could…but where's the fun in that?" Naruto flashed a grin. "Now get baking. It's Test Day at the University."

The University that Naruto no longer attended because he couldn't afford it. The café brought in decent business, but between paying his rent and bills for his apartment along with the ingredients for the café and the bills for it as well, he didn't have much left over.

The radio switched to a new song and Naruto began bouncing around the kitchen, dancing as he began baking his half of the pastries. They'd each taken half of the menu to bake. Naruto had drawn the pies, something he loved doing. Why, Sakura had no idea. She'd asked once and had never gotten an answer.

_And we stare each other down  
like victims in the grind  
Probing all the weakness and  
hurt still left behind and we cry  
The tears of pearls  
We do it. Oh we do it._

Is love really the tragedy the way you  
might describe?  
Or would a thousand lovers  
still leave you cold inside?  
Make you cry...  
These tears of pearls  


Naruto began singing along, voice a little too high to actually be good. But Sakura only laughed, knowing his antics. Naruto loved his work and he knew almost every song on the radio.

_  
"All these mixed emotions  
we keep locked away like stolen pearls  
Stolen pearl devotions we  
keep locked away from all the world_

Your kisses are like pearls,  
so different and so rare  
But anger stole the jewels away  
and love has left you bare,  
Made you cry...  
These tears of pearls

Well I could be the tired joker  
pour my heart to get you in  
Sacrifice my happiness just so I could win  
Maybe cry...  
These tears of pearls

All these mixed emotions  
we keep locked away like stolen pearls  
Stolen pearl devotions we  
keep locked away from all the world"

Naruto took a wooden spoon and used it as his microphone. Sakura smirked, knowing that he hadn't noticed the person leaning against the counter.__

We twist and turn where angels burn  
Like fallen soldiers we will learn  
Once forgotten, twice removed  
Love will be the death...  
The death of you

All these mixed emotions  
we keep locked away like stolen pearls  
Stolen pearl devotions we  
keep locked away from all the world"

Naruto saw the person by the counter as soon as the song stopped and he smiled sheepishly at the half-smile that was playing at his friend's lips. Shikamaru worked at the bakery part-time, but he stopped in every day to say hi and to make use of his employee's discount. Shikamaru had been always been lanky and skinny the entire time Naruto had known him, since middle school. His dark brown hair was always pulled back in a tight ponytail, and his intelligent eyes were watching him with amusement. His messenger bag was slung over his shoulder, thick with books with a single button on it. The button read 'Procrastinators UNITE….tomorrow." Shikamaru's black T-shirt was baggy, but then, anything he wore was. The shirt had the Batman sign on it and his faded blue jeans rode low on his hips.

"You're lucky I'm the only one that saw that, Uzumaki. But I have blackmail material now." Shikamaru smirked at him as Naruto slid a banana nut muffin across the counter to him.

"Like you don't have enough blackmail already."

"Maybe not for you. I've got some on Neji that I intend to use though."

Naruto grinned. "Talk."

"It involves a certain closet in the Medical building with a certain person who shall not be named at the present time."

Naruto arched an eyebrow. "Do I know this unnamed person?"

"You might." Shikamaru ignored the signs that Sakura was sending him behind Naruto's back. "About…5'4, twenty-two years old, a questionable hair color and is always late to work."

Naruto paused to put the pieces together before turning to Sakura, a disbelieving grin on his face. "You were holed up in a closet with Hyuuga Neji?"

Sakura's cheeks flamed. "Maybe…"

Just as Naruto was about to go full blast on big brother tease mode, Shikamaru nudged him in the back, nodding to the people coming in the door. Three people came in the door. Shikamaru had put up the OPEN sign every time he walked in out of pure habit. Naruto recognized two of them; they were from the college crowd.

One, the oldest looking one, had his medium brown hair pulled into a long ponytail and his pale, pale eyes observed the bakery with a blankness that Naruto had become accustomed to dealing with. His clothes were nice, Naruto supposed; a white dress shirt and black jeans with a pair of black boots. Hyuuga Neji in the flesh; oh, this was going to get interesting.

The other one he recognized wore a gray hoodie that read Angels and Airwaves, and baggy dark blue jeans. His white sneakers looked brand new, something that Naruto had never quite been able to figure out how he kept them in that condition. His eyes were hidden behind sunglasses and he nodded his greeting to Naruto. They'd known each other since high school, though they never really talked much.

Naruto's eyes raked over the last one. Blacker than black hair, the darkest Naruto had ever seen, was spiked back and two hard obsidian eyes looked at the worn, but clean wooden floors, the gleaming countertops that Sakura cleaned meticulously and finally looked straight at Naruto. The young man, probably at most a year or two older than him, had very pale skin, like he never went outside. His black T-shirt looked poured on underneath the navy blue jacket. He wore black slacks, something that Naruto found odd, but he'd seen stranger, so he didn't comment.

"Morning!" Naruto greeted. "What can I get you guys?"

Neji and Shino had seen the pastries before, had tried everything at least once. That was their form of consideration, Naruto supposed.

"An apple turnover, if you please, Naruto." Neji requested. The two might not like each other much, didn't interact often, but they were always at the very least civil.

"And a cinnamon bun for me, please." Shino added.

"Sure thing. And you, sir?" Naruto asked the unfamiliar one.

"Do you have coffee?" the young man asked.

Naruto frowned. "Not entirely sure. Sakura brews it on and off." He turned and called, "Sakura! Any hot caffeinated beverages?"

"Uh, yeah!"

Naruto turned back to the young man and nodded, smiling brightly. "I take it you want a cup of coffee?"

"Would I have asked otherwise?"

Naruto felt a slight twitch in his cheek for the comment, but forced the smile to stay on his face. He could beat up the arrogant prick _after_ he got paid. Sakura handed Naruto the steaming foam cup of coffee while Naruto slipped the pastries into a bag. "Ten eighty-five total." Naruto told them.

They all paid their fair share for their morning sugar before choosing a seat by the window, speaking mostly in low voices. Shikamaru and Naruto both shot Sakura a smirk. She answered by sticking her tongue out at them and the two laughed quietly.

Naruto pulled a sheet of paper from a notebook that he kept by the cash register and reached across the counter to grab a pen from Sakura's handy dandy Minnie Mouse pen cup. He scribbled on the paper and turned it so Shikamaru could read it.

**Who's the prick?**

Shikamaru arched an eyebrow at the query. Which one?

**The new one.**

His name's Uchiha Sasuke from what Ino was yelling in my ear yesterday. He's the youngest, and from what I hear, only, heir to Uchiha Industries. His older brother apparently was a disgrace to the family, etc. He didn't wanna do business. His brother's supposed to be an artist or something.

**I already like the older brother better and I ain't even met the guy. What's this bastard's problem anyway?**

Shikamaru bit back a smile. He pissed you off already? I think that's a record.

**Smart-ass remarks not necessary. **

*gasp* smart-ass comments are _always_ necessary. 

Naruto rolled his eyes. "Yeah, yeah. Don't you have school anyway?"

"Not for another hour."

"What about your girlfriends?"

"I only have one, Naruto." Shikamaru reminded.

"Tell that to the blonde one."

"They're both blonde."

"I know."

* * * *

Naruto put up the Velcro sign—Out to Lunch, with a sigh of relief. Mornings on University Test Days were the worst. The blonde didn't mind, he loved his work, but keeping track of all the orders with only two people behind the counterwas asking for hell. Sakura had literally gone out to lunch, something Naruto didn't believe for a minute. To the closet in the Medical building maybe, but not for lunch.

Which meant he was alone for lunch again. Naruto sat on his counter, pulling his cup of ramen from the microwave and a bottle of root beer from the fridge. The blonde remembered he never used to like root beer, but after Shikamaru had put a twelve-pack in the fridge, he just suddenly liked it. Naruto popped open the top as he pondered on the weird little ironies in life. He reached up and switched the radio on again, wanting to fill the silence.

_Anytime I need to see your face  
I just close my eyes  
And I am taken to a place where  
Your crystal mind and  
Magenta feelings take up shelter  
In the base of my spine  
Sweet like a chic a cherry cola_

I don_' need to try and explain  
I just hold on tight  
And if it happens again I might move  
So slightly  
To the arms and the lips and the face  
Of the human cannonball  
That I need to I want to_

Come stand a little bit closer  
Breath in and get a bit higher  
You'll never know what hit you  
When I get to you

Ooh I want you  
I don't know if I need you  
But ooh I'd die to find out  
Ooh I want you  
I don't know if I need you  
But ooh I'd die to find out

I'm the kind of person who endorses  
A deep commitment  
Getting comfy getting perfect  
Is what I live for  
But a look then a smell of perfume  
Its like I'm down on the floor  
And I don't know what I'm in for

Conversation has a time and place  
In the interaction of a lover and  
A mate  
But the time of talking  
Using symbols using words  
Can be likened to a deep sea diver  
Who is swimming with a raincoat

Come stand a little bit closer  
Breathe in and get a bit higher  
You'll never know what hit you  
When I get to you  


Naruto hummed along to the beat through his mouthful of noodles. Sakura had always told him that his preferred radio station played a random assortment of music and every time, Naruto would shrug in response. Sometimes he just didn't feel like listening to just one kind of music. His favorite station played all kinds.

_Ooh I want you  
I don__'t know if I need you  
But ooh I'd die to find out  
Ooh I want you  
I don't know if I need you  
But ooh I'd die to find out_

_  
Anytime I need to see your face  
I just close my eyes  
And I am taken to a place where  
Your crystal mind and  
Magenta feelings take up shelter  
In the base of my spine  
Sweet like a chic a cherry cola_

I don_'t need to try and explain  
I just hold on tight  
And if it happens again I might move  
So slightly  
To the arms and the lips and the face  
Of the human cannonball  
That I need to I want to  
_

_Ooh I want you  
I don__'t know if I need you  
But ooh I'd die to find out  
Ooh I want you  
I don't know if I need you  
But ooh I'd die to find out_

Naruto looked up from his lunch at a knock on his door. The person standing just outside it was a semi-familiar arrogant prick standing just outside his café door.


	2. Lunch Break

**Disclaimer:** Don't own! Wicked belongs to Gregory Mcguire and the song is Lucifer's Angel by the Rasmus.

**Author's Note:** I have been SO swamped with work. Mostly it's my fault, because I'm a procrastinator, but what can I say, I'm a high school student. I had three essays and about 48 questions to do. My hand hurts so much from writing. I went to Megacon on Saturday and I had a blast. I saw a girl that I have to give some props to because she was walking on stilts. I got a few prints and I swordfighted against a guy. We drew twice and I lost once, so that was cool. I kept tripping over my Akatsuki cloak though. It was too long.

-~-~-~-~-

_The hardest thing to learn in life is which bridge to cross and which to burn. ~David Russell_

-~-~--~-~-

Naruto sighed and set his ramen on the counter, striding across the room to the door. Naruto pointed at the Out to Lunch sign. Sasuke didn't seem to care if Naruto was reading his expression right. Naruto opened the door just enough so he could lean partially against it.

"What're you doing here, Uchiha?"

"I had time for lunch and this was the only place I could think of."

Naruto gave the paler man a look. "You don't seem to have any food on you."

Sasuke didn't reply.

"I can let you stay here, but I ain't giving you free food." Naruto tried to compromise.

"From what I've heard, that's quite lenient."

It was and wasn't at the same time. Naruto never minded people spending time in his café, whether they bought something or not. He loved his customers. But when he said the café was closed, even temporarily, it was closed.

"Take it or leave it, teme."

Sasuke decided to take it. He walked in after Naruto, who seated himself n the counter. The blonde fit in the café perfectly. The walls had been painted the softest of yellows with various berries and graceful flowers carefully decorating the open space. It wasn't overly feminine, but it was obvious that there was some female presence in the café. Portraits of Broadway took up the far wall. From where Sasuke stood, he could see Mamma Mia, Wicked, Phantom of the Opera, the Wizard of Oz, Dirty Dancing and (Sasuke quirked an eyebrow at this) Avenue Q. The nylon upholstery on the booths was an odd blue green kind of color and all the surfaces gleamed in the noon sun slanting through the windows.

"This wasn't here a few years ago."

"No, it wasn't. Not as a café at least. My godfather ran a bookstore here." Naruto looked at Sasuke from behind his root beer. "But you're a newcomer here, aren't you? How would you know that?"

"I was passing through a few years ago." It wasn't a _complete_ lie.

"That so? Where'd you live before here? Must've been a nice place."

Sasuke glanced at him. "Why do you say that?"

"Your accent, the way you walk and talk."

"Do you always watch people that closely?"

"You start noticing things about customers when you run a business. Speaking of which, why's Uchiha Industries in this small town anyway?"

"This town's not that small."

"Maybe not, but there's plenty bigger cities that your business could go in and get better publicity. Why here?"

Sasuke chose not to respond. He sat down in a booth, still quietly observing the café. The glass showcase that held the pastries reflected the light. Sasuke could see pies, turnovers, cakes, puddings, sweetbreads and he, who didn't much like sweet things, had to admit that it looked good. The coffee this morning hadn't tasted half bad either.

Naruto threw away the ramen and the root beer can, stretching languorously. He always felt better with a full stomach. Naruto stole a glance at the clock. It was only twelve fifteen. He usually opened back up at one. Naruto crossed the kitchen to a small bookshelf that was the only thing he'd kept of his godfather's store. Bending down, he ran his fingers along the spines of the books. He never read his godfather's books, but he kept them on the top shelf out of respect. He slipped Wicked from its shelf. His copy was well-thumbed and a little tattered, but Naruto believed that if a book didn't have at least a little wear and tear to it, then you can't really enjoy it.

Sasuke raised an eyebrow at the novel. "Did you read that before or after the musical made it popular?"

"I'm surprised you recognized it."

Sasuke didn't say that his brother, Itachi, had had a copy of the book. Itachi had enjoyed reading as much as he enjoyed sketching. "I caught a glimpse of the cover." Sasuke lied. "I don't pay much attention to things like that."

Naruto looked up with a shocked expression on tanned features. "What on _earth_ do you do in your free time?"

"I don't have free time." Sasuke said coldly.

"Whaddaya call this?"

"I'm on a spontaneous holiday."

"Mmmhmm. Sure." Naruto drawled, leaning back against the counter, cracking open the novel to a dog eared page. His face had the kind of concentration that people had when they were truly enjoying a book. Sasuke had seen a similar expression on his brother's face whenever he found him sitting comfortably below his window or stretched out on his bed with book in hand.

"Do you read at all, teme?"

Sasuke bristled automatically at the word, though he'd never let it show, but then he relaxed more when he noticed that the way the baker said it, it was teasing, familiar, even though they'd met only that morning.

"Not really, no."

"That's why you're so uptight." Naruto mused to himself, turning a page.

Sasuke decided not to ask what the blonde meant by that. He'd learned a long time ago that people who read that much often had odd thoughts. Itachi had taught him that.

A bell jingled and Sasuke looked at the door. Naruto had opened it silently, if that was possible. Sakura came through the door; skin flushed though there was no cold or wind to make it so naturally.

"How was lunch with Neji?" Naruto asked casually.

Sakura visibly jumped. "What makes you think that I was with him?"

"Because while I may not be as smart as you college kids, I'm not an idiot."

"The lunch went fine, since you're so interested." Sakura told him, a warning tone to her voice. Her tone said not to continue the subject.

Naruto couldn't resist one final jab. "Oh, I'm sure it was_ fine _indeed."

Sakura stuck her tongue out at him. Naruto grinned back jauntily, folding the corner of the page down and snapping the book shut before slipping it back into its place on the shelf. The pinkette raised an eyebrow at Sasuke, as though she wasn't able to figure out why he was there. She knew Naruto's rule about the café being closed better than anyone. Still, she could tell she wasn't going to get an answer out of the Uchiha. That didn't matter much. Naruto would probably tell her later.

Sakura tugged her apron off of a hook. "Now it's the afternoon classes."

Naruto mimicked her, tying the apron behind him with practiced skill. "I can't wait for the semester to be over."

"Graduation." Sakura reminded him. Graduation was their biggest day of the year. Since the college was so nearby, a lot of the graduates with their families came for the celebratory breakfast or lunch.

"Yeah, but I don't mind graduation as much."

Sakura knew Naruto didn't, but he'd never given her a decent explanation as to why. He trusted her with so much, but rarely with his reasons for certain things.

"Ne, teme, if you're gonna wanna stay here any longer, you're gonna have to buy something." Naruto told the brunette over his shoulder.

"Thanks for letting me stay." Sasuke replied, walking across the room.

Sakura waited until Sasuke disappeared around the corner to look at Naruto and say, "Wanna tell me what that was about?"

"He didn't know anywhere else in town and asked to stay here for his lunch break." Naruto replied, shrugging.

"He _thanked_ you, though. Uchiha Sasuke _never_ thanks_ anyone._"

Naruto grinned at Sakura over the dough in his hands. "Everyone loves bakers."

* * * *

Sasuke toed his shoes off as soon as he got into the house. He'd never felt comfortable wearing shoes in the house. It felt too formal. His father wouldn't be home yet, he worked long hours and his mother was probably holed up in the kitchen. Hearing the gentle beat of music from upstairs, it was obvious Itachi was home. Climbing the stairs, he passed his brother's room. The sticker on his door read 'If you tell me my music's too loud, I'll tell you your hearing's too good.'

The door was open and the first thing you saw were about three easels, each portraying a different scene. The first was of a cloaked shadow and a single raven's wing unfurling from the shadow's right shoulder blade. The shadow was floating above a war-torn city with a single tree sprout in the dead center of it.

The second painting was of piano keys looked at from the side and a single black rose lying across it.

The final painting was only half-finished. The painted portion was of water beneath a bridge and a small bit of the sketched out building was a terracotta color. Even as Sasuke watched, Itachi added more paint, coloring the stone walkway gunmetal gray.

"Welcome home." Itachi greeted, not looking at him.

Sasuke didn't reply, choosing to sit on the edge of his brother's bed that was against the far right wall. Itachi's bedroom was as familiar as his own. The plain white walls had a few rough sketches pinned onto them, most were things that Sasuke couldn't discern. For some odd reason, Itachi's wooden floors were always warmer than his own. Two bookshelves were pushed up against the wall, stocked full of books until it seemed the shelves would sag beneath the weight. The window was wide open and letting in a breeze. The radio sitting just beneath the windowsill was playing in a steady stream of music.

_Beyond these clouds you can  
hide all your tears  
Beyond this world you'll be safe  
from their wicked fears  
And in their hearts they fear  
your demands  
You know their minds won't accept you, _

_They'll never understand _

_Fly away  
fly away  
From the torch of blame  
They hunt you  
Lucifer's Angels _

_You never lived  
you never died  
Your life has been denied  
They call you  
Lucifer's Angel_

"Did you even go to class today, aniki?"

Itachi shook his head slightly. "I got an inspiration this morning."

Sasuke knew how Itachi was with his inspirations. Whenever he got one, he wouldn't leave his room until it was completely laid out on paper. That meant that he skipped his college classical civilizations class. Sasuke never could quite figure out how he still kept perfect A's in everything if he missed class. Something that Itachi was good at, he supposed.

"Not all three."

"No. Just the first two."

"What's the place you're working on right now?"

"Somewhere in Spain. I found the picture online." Itachi leaned back in his chair, setting the brush in a jelly jar full of water. "That's as far as I can get for now. At least until the paint dries." Itachi looked at his younger brother. "How was class?"

"Boring as usual. Business isn't the most interesting of topics." Sasuke didn't like business, but he'd do it. "Found a decent café near the school."

"If you say it's decent, then it must be good. Where is it?"

"Where Kakashi-sensei used to buy his books."

"I know the place. New management?"

Sasuke shrugged. "I guess."

Itachi studied the younger of the two. A smirk twisted his lips.

"What?" Sasuke asked.

Itachi stood, brushing off his jeans and when he was at his door, he said, "Nothing you need to worry about."

Sasuke followed him. "That's crap, Itachi. Tell me."

"No."

Sasuke stood at the top of the stairs, glaring at his brother who grabbed an apple from the fruit bowl on their counter. Itachi knew that Sasuke was glaring at him, had expected it, but he had a feeling there was more to the story of the small bookstore-turned-café than Sasuke had told him.


	3. Of Siblings and Plans

**Disclaimer:** Don't own!

**Author's Note:** Sorry I couldn't get this up sooner. My computer was attacked by a virus and it screwed the entire thing over. Luckily, I got to keep most of my files.

-~-~-~-~-

_To the outside world we all grow old. But not to brothers and sisters. We know each other as we always were. We know each other's hearts. We share private family jokes. We remember family feuds and secrets, family griefs and joys. We live outside the touch of time. ~Clara Ortega_

-~-~-~-~-~

The rain-slick streets were empty, everyone holed up at home beneath warm blankets with the heater buzzing. Well, not quite everyone. Uzumaki Naruto was one of the few who braved the soaked streets as twilight fell over the city. He had his hands shoved in his pockets, shoulders hunched against the wind.

The blonde looked up as he neared a very familiar place on the corner. The not familiar thing about it was the figure standing beneath the awning. As Naruto neared, he could make out the person's features. Wet, dark hair was pulled back into a low ponytail and the pale skin looked paler with the dreary weather. Naruto wasn't a tall man and the person was perhaps a little more than half a head taller.

When Naruto was almost right next to him, he asked, "Can I help you with anything?"

The taller man turned and Naruto found a pair of onyx eyes looking straight at him. "Are you the café owner?"

"Yeah, that's me. I'm Uzumaki Naruto."

"Uchiha Itachi." The person replied, studying him intently.

"Nice to meetcha." Naruto turned away from Itachi to unlock the café. "If you don't wanna catch pneumonia, you're welcome to come inside."

"Thank you." Itachi followed Naruto inside, blinking at the semi-brightness of the café after the blonde flicked the light switch on.

"Out of curiosity, why're you here?" Naruto called over the counter, searching in the cupboards for the coffee beans. None who worked in the café liked any coffee other than freshly ground ones.

"No real reason. I was wandering the streets and found myself stranded in the rain."

Naruto shrugged. If Itachi wanted to lie to him, it was the Uchiha's business. "You're Sasuke's brother, right? The artist?"

"How do you know about me?"

"I hear a lot of gossip during the day. And you look like him. But I guess it's like that between siblings." Naruto handed Itachi a hand towel.

"Not all the time." Itachi said, taking the proffered towel and squeezing his wet hair dry as well as drying his face. "You don't seem to have any siblings."

"Nope. None. Sometimes I wish I had some, but then I hear people talking about their siblings and then I'm not so sure." Naruto smiled at the taller man. "You're very easy to talk to, Itachi."

"That's the first time I've heard that said to me."

"Seriously? People mustn't give you many chances, do they?"

"I suppose not." Itachi leaned back in the chair. He hadn't been lying entirely. He had gone for a walk and ended up here, but it had been no accident. In the week since Sasuke had come home after meeting the baker, the younger Uchiha had changed in small ways. He had begun eating slightly sweeter things. Not overly so, but Itachi had still spotted him with a single dango the other day. And Sasuke had stolen some of his books. Most wouldn't think Itachi would notice, with his multitude of books, but they were his books and he always knew where each one of them was.

Naruto slid a mug of coffee to him as he sat down. Itachi raised the mug to his lips, but before he did, he quirked an eyebrow at the mug. There was a grinning reindeer on it, toasting with champagne and, in cursive green letters, the mug read, 'Bingle Jells.'

The blonde laughed at Itachi's expression. "Dollar store mugs are amazing, aren't they?"

"You surprise me." Itachi said, taking a sip. His parents didn't like coffee. They were tea people.

"I tend to have that effect on people." Naruto looked at the older man over the rim of his mug. "How'd you know I was the owner of the café?"

"A guess."

"Quite the guess. I could've been a homicidal werefox for all you know."

"Werefox?"

Naruto shrugged. "Werewolves are overused."

Itachi shook his head. "You are something else, Naruto." The Uchiha glanced out the window. "It seems the rain has let up. I'd best be getting home. Thank your for everything."

* * * *

"Mom saved you some dinner." Sasuke remarked as Itachi stepped through the door.

Itachi nodded in acknowledgement of Sasuke's words, more interested in the book that Sasuke thought he was hiding rather well beneath his pillow. "What're you reading?"

"I don't like to read, Itachi, you know that."

"Sure sure." Itachi shed his coat, placing it on the back of a chair. "I met that baker in the café you mentioned."

Sasuke arched an eyebrow. "Oh, really?"

"Mmhmm. I ran into him while I was taking cover from the rain."

"Yeah, sure. Just happening to run into him a week after I mentioned him to you. Awful large coincidence."

"No, the coincidence is you remembering when, exactly, you met him."

"I have a good memory."

"Play the innocent card if you like, Sasuke. I'm your brother. I know you."

Sasuke glared at Itachi's back as the elder cautiously uncovered the leftovers. Their mother wasn't a bad cook, but she did like to experiment on occasion, so both of the brothers had learned to tread with caution around their mother's cooking. It looked innocent enough today. A miniature meat pie.

"I don't think she experimented today, Itachi." Sasuke told him before he climbed the stairs to his room.

Itachi trusted his brother's judgment on that. They argued and fought a lot, but it had been a mutual agreement not to lie on the subject of their mother's cooking. Placing the plate into their microwave, he waited until he heard the sound of Sasuke's door closing before he slipped the book out from underneath the pillow on their sofa. Itachi smirked at the title. The book wasn't his, but one that his friend Konan had insisted he read. Itachi hadn't gotten a chance to start it, but Sasuke was nearly halfway into it. Oh, he was getting blackmail from this.

* * * *

Sakura spotted a familiar figure in the school courtyard. "Naruto!"

The blonde turned at his name, smiling when he saw Sakura. "Hey, Sakura. You out of classes already?"

"It's almost four in the afternoon, Naruto. Why aren't you at the café?"

Naruto shrugged. "I just couldn't get myself to work today. I figured I'd take the day off and chill. I wanted to see the campus, so I've mostly been walking around here all morning, sitting in on a class or two if they let me. How do you not get lost in this place?"

"I mostly just have my classes in the medical building." She answered, taking a seat beside him, smoothing her skirt underneath her thighs before she did. The skirt was perfect for her job interview at the local hospital. She'd told Naruto about it a few weeks ago, a little afraid of how he might react, but he'd just smiled and wished her good luck. The skirt was pale blue denim, falling past her knees halfway down her calves. "I have an anatomy class in the science building, but that's pretty much it. What classes did you sit in on?"

"There was an architecture and a classic lit class that let me stay. I found Shika outside his astronomy class. And the last one was a….classical civilizations, I think. I met someone there that you've heard of."

"Really?"  
"Mmhmm. Uchiha Itachi. He was sitting a little more than halfway up in like the middle of the row. He explained some of the stuff to me. It was kinda interesting. They learned mythology, older architecture."

Sakura tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear. She knew Naruto would find a lot of those classes interesting. He had almost a photographic memory and loved to learn, although he couldn't ever afford college. Sakura had asked him why he didn't try and get a scholarship in high school, but he just shrugged and told her that it had seemed impossible back then. His only talent was a small one and it was at piano. He hadn't gotten good grades, had barely graduated and had watched as some of their friends graduated with honors.

"Ne, but how'd the interview go?"

Sakura hid a smile. Naruto always remembered things that were important to other people, but nothing about him personally. He'd forgotten his birthday almost five years in a row. "Fine, I guess. They said that they'd consider me for it. Although they said that a requirement was to dye my hair back to its original color."

Naruto snorted a laugh. "Why is it that they never believe that your hair is completely natural, odd as it is?"

"Because they're close-minded people that're gonne be signing my paychecks."

"They can't say no to you, Sakura. You're the best in your class and are gonna graduate, what is it, Magna Carta?"

"Yeah..."

Naruto looked at her. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing!"

Naruto gave her a disbelieving look.

"Fine. I'm meeting Neji's uncle today. And his cousins."

"Already or were you dating without my knowledge? I haven't even been able to give him the big brother talk."

"Dating for like a year." She rounded on him. "And don't you _dare_ track him down today. He's got enough on his mind. And in case you haven't noticed, he's a pretty decent guy."

"He's a jerk." Naruto muttered.

"Just because you don't like him…"

"I'll behave around 'im. If he hurts you though, I'm gonna kick his ass across the country and back."

Sakura knew Naruto could back up the threat. Despite not liking to fight, Naruto was an excellent street brawler. The lean muscles of his arms and shoulders were a testament to that, as well as the scars on his face, though he'd never told her exactly how he'd gotten them. She remembered the day he came home with them, however.

They'd been maybe ten, twelve and Naruto had stayed out at the beach after school. He usually liked to pass by there, but that day, he'd stayed later than usual. Naruto had come to Sakura's house, her parents having been surgeons, and they'd patched him up. He hadn't said what had happened other than the fact that he got into a fight. Sakura would always remember the three gashes on each side of his face dripping crimson blood like tainted tears.

Naruto had never been homeless, living with his godfather. He'd been raised right, despite skeptics that said otherwise. Jiraiya had taught him how to be a gentleman; to open car doors, to never hit a female out of anger, how to treat women right. Jiraiya had been a pervert, no one, not even Jiraiya himself, had ever denied it, but that had never ever meant that he treated women, or people in general, badly. Jiraiya had been the one that taught them both how to read and write, had taught them how to swim and play slapjack. He'd been there when Sakura's parents had died in a car accident, had taken Naruto in when his father had gone overboard on a fishing job and when Kushina had gotten washed away in a flood during the last typhoon.

Minato, Naruto's father and practical double, had worked the docks. He had loved the sea. Minato had always said that the sea was like his wife, Kushina; a siren call that he couldn't escape. Kushina would roll her eyes in a manner that Sakura was very familiar with because her son rolled his eyes in the exact same way, and tell Minato that he was a loveable fool. It had been an odd relationship, even Sakura had been able to see that, but there was not denying the fact that the two did love each other.

"Ne, Sakura, I'm gonna head out now. Good luck at Neji's, 'kay?"

"Thought you didn't like him?"

"I don't. But you do." Naruto flashed her a grin, though something about it was a little shaky in Sakura's opinion. "See ya."

"Come back safe, alright?" Sakura knew that Naruto would, he promised and he always kept his promises, but ever since that day almost eleven years ago when bloody tears stained his cheeks, she worried. And it felt like good luck to her ever since she began saying it.

Naruto raised a hand in acknowledgement as he walked away. He hadn't been exaggerating when he'd said the campus was enormous and he got several odd looks as he walked across it. Maybe it was obvious he didn't belong there. The students there were all dressed in clean jeans and nice shirts with no holes. Naruto was dressed in cut off jean shorts with rips and paint splatters from when they'd repainted the café. His T-shirt was an old Angels and Airwaves one, white with black designs and a few small holes in it. What could he say; it was a favorite shirt of his. On his feet were flip flops that he'd bought a few years ago at the dollar store with Hawaiian flowers on the orange foam.

His feet led him to a familiar spot, the pier where his father used to work. Not many boats docked there anymore, but it was still Naruto's favorite place to just sit and relax. The only problem now was that there was someone sitting on the pier. It usually wouldn't bother Naruto; there was plenty of pier for everyone after all. The thing that made Naruto walk over to the person was the fact that he'd met this person before.

"Hey, Uchiha." Naruto greeted, taking a seat beside Sasuke.

"Uzumaki."

"You sound pissed off."

Sasuke glanced sharply at him. Sasuke prided himself on being able to keep both face and voice neutral in any given situation, how was it that the baker had already picked up on it?

Naruto tried again. "What happened? You look like you came from something important."

The blonde was right again. Sasuke was dressed in black slacks that still had their crease, a white dress shirt that had been tucked in before the Uchiha got to the pier and the suit jacket was lying on the other side of him. His tie was at half mast and his shoes had been kicked off.

"I came from a Harvard interview."

"And that makes you angry…because why?"

"It wasn't the interview. I didn't go. My father's the one that's making me pissed off."

"Why didn't you go to Harvard? That's an amazing opportunity right there!"

"Maybe for you. For me, it's another way to get trapped in my dad's business game."

Naruto snarled at him. "I'd be grateful to go to any college period! You get this huge chance to learn and you don't take it! I wish I was that lucky!"

"You have the bakery, don't you?"

"Don't get me wrong, I love the café and I love baking, but I wanna get out of this city. I've never left it. I wanna see the other places in the world."

"The world isn't that great." Sasuke murmured, his gaze going to the horizon.

"Maybe not the places you've had to go to, since you always have to see the business part of every place you go to." A smile brightened his scarred face. "I know! Tomorrow, I'll take you around town. No one knows it better than I do!"

"Why would I go with you, dobe?"  
"Because, teme, I wanan give you memories of this town that aren't bad."

"Why though?"

"You can't go through life with only bad memories. That's just plain depressing."

"Sure sure."

Naruto stood, stretching. It was nearing sunset. He always forgot how long the walk to the beach was. "Ne, teme, meet me in front of the café tomorrow."

"What time?"

"Sometime after ten. I'll probably be up by then."

"You can tell you're not in school."

Naruto laughed. "Yeah, I guess so. See you, teme."

* * * *

Itachi tapped his friend on the shoulder. She turned and looked at him, her indigo bangs partially obscuring her face. A pale, slender hand brushed the bangs away, revealing her nearly black eyes. She was bent over a botany book again, probably cramming for a test tomorrow that she'd procrastinated for.

"You're thinking something evil, Itachi. I know that look." She told him.

"You're right. I am thinking something evil and it has something to do with that book of yours."

Konan held up the textbook. "Botany?"  
Itachi rolled his eyes. "Not that book. The one you lent me."

"Oh." She set the textbook down. "What about it? Have you read it?"

"Not yet. But Sasuke has."

Her eyes widened and she bit down a laugh. "Sasuke? Your little brother? The emo one? He's reading that?"

"Mmhmm."

Konan burst out laughing. "You must be joking."

"Nope. But he and you have made me curious. What exactly is that book about?"

"It's a romance novel."

"You lent me a romance novel?"

"This one has a storyline! And there's a lot of politics and fighting involved."

Itachi quirked an eyebrow.

"I'm serious, Itachi. Give _Kiss of Shadows_ a chance."

"Seeing the effect it seems to be having on Sasuke, I'll pass."

"You're going to blackmail him?"

"Eventually. But I haven't told you the most interesting part of all of this." Itachi leaned back into the hard-backed chair, hands folded across his stomach. "And I'm going to need a woman's help for this."

"I'd call it sexist, but you probably do. Start talking."

/-/-/-/-/-/

**A/N:** That book, _Kiss of Shadows,_ is actually really good. I've just finished reading it. It's great after state mandated tests. : ) The book's by Laurell K. Hamilton.


	4. Of Sandwiches and Islands

**Disclaimer:** Don't own! The song is Mr. Right by White Tie Affair. _Pirates of the Caribbean _belong to Disney.

**Author's Note:** We finally got our hammock that we've had for years put up! That is vital for the lazy days that are sure to come. : )

-~-~-~-~-

_A true friend is one who thinks you are a good egg even if you are half-cracked. ~Author Unknown_

-~-~-~-~

Sasuke was leaning back against the café windows, observing the streets around him. The streets were just beginning to start to come to life, people opening shop and going to work and school.

Why Sasuke had agreed to tour town with the blonde was still a mystery to himself. He knew that the blonde interested him, though he wouldn't say it outside the relative privacy of his own mind. Naruto couldn't be older than himself, and yet he was running a small business on nothing more than a small salary. He didn't go to the conveniently located college, but he seemed at least perceptive. Perhaps not intelligent, but intuitive.

The door on Sasuke's left opened and he saw Naruto smiling at him. "Morning, teme!"

"You're cheery for just waking up, dobe." Sasuke observed. Naruto didn't even look like he'd rolled out of bed recently, save for his hair. He was wearing black board shorts with fiery Hawaiian flowers on it and a white T-shirt with a green and gold dragon on it. He wore the same orange flip flops from yesterday on his feet and he had a small bag slung over his shoulder. "And are we going to the beach?"

"I've been up for like an hour. But I started reading and then I lost track of time. And probably. These" Naruto tugged gently at his board shorts, "Are just in case."  
"You don't have a plan?"

Naruto raised his eyebrows at him, spreading his hands. "Do I really look like a guy with a plan?"

"No, but I'd hoped you put on bad first and second impressions."

The blonde laughed. "Nope, sorry. What you see is what you get."

"So I'm stuck with an idiot all day?"

"Jeez, I love you too, teme. Now come on! Time's a wastin'."

* * * *

They'd been walking around town, Naruto showing him the museum where his friend/acquaintance Sai worked. Today was Sai's day off, Naruto had explained, so the museum wasn't as interesting without his monotone sarcastic comments. Then there was the park where pigeons were by the hundreds. Naruto paid a dollar for a small bag of corn to feed them. When one landed on Sasuke's head, Naruto had laughed.

"Your hair doesn't look any different, teme." He'd teased. Sasuke had glared, even though he couldn't entirely mean it.

Naruto pushed open a door at the entrance to an alley. "This place has the best sandwiches in the world."

Sasuke followed him in. It wasn't a big place, a little smaller than Naruto's café, but it was very homey. An entire bulletin board was dedicated to photos and as Sasuke drew closer, he could see that they were of customers and the owners. Naruto came up behind him and pointed to a picture of four teenagers with their arms around each other. "That was me and my best friends just after our second year of high school."

The one on the far left had wild dark brown hair and two red triangular tattoos on his cheeks. He had a fierce grin on his face and a white dog was at his side, reaching up to his hip. He had a black hoodie that read "Cereal Killer" on it with a skull and two spoons crossed underneath. His left arm was around a skinny boy's shoulders. The skinny one had his hair in a tight ponytail and he was smiling. His jacket was plain gray with green lining. Baggy jeans were slung low on his hips.

Right beside him was a blonde with six still healing scars on his cheeks, three on each side. They were still slightly red, but he had a wide grin and a ready-for-trouble gleam in his baby blue eyes. He was shorter than the other three and had to stand on his toes to put his arms around their shoulders properly, but that didn't seem to be bothering him.

The boy on the far right was chubby, but there was some hint of muscle to him. He had two red spirals tattooed on his cheeks and had a bag of chips in his free hand. He had unruly mouse brown hair and smiling brown eyes.

"They got tattoos when they were in high school?"

Naruto nodded. "We all did. It was for surviving to the halfway point. Kiba's and Chouji's are just more noticable. Kiba's the one with the dog."

"You got a tattoo?"

"Mmhmm. On my stomach."

Sasuke arched a questioning eyebrow and Naruto grinned impishly. "Sorry, teme. I know you wanna see me with my shirt off, but I don't do that on a first date."

Sasuke waited until Naruto had turned to talk to the man behind the counter to allow a pink flush to creep up his cheeks at the mental image.

"Ne, teme, you want some lunch here, or don't you like sandwiches?" When Sasuke didn't answer because he was trying to push the pink from his face, Naruto came up to him and put a hand lightly on his forehead. "You sick, teme? You look like you got a fever."

Sasuke pushed Naruto's hand away. "I'm fine. And sandwiches?"

"Yeah! Don't you like them?"

Sasuke shrugged. "I don't really eat them much."

Naruto gasped in horror. "That's a crime! Sit your ass down." Sasuke felt two hands firmly push him onto a stool. "Wait, are you allergic to anything?"

"Shellfish and milk."

"You're lactose intolerant?"

"_No._ Just because I'm allergic to milk doesn't mean that I'm lactose intolerant. I just don't like most cheeses."

"What kinds of cheese_ do_ you like?" The man behind the counter asked. He had very brown skin and his hair that was pulled back away from his face was only a few shades darker. A scar ran across his nose to just underneath both of his expressive hazel eyes.

"Provolone, I guess."

The man smiled. "We have plenty of that. Oh, and I'm Umino Iruka."

"He used to be a teacher 'til they finally drove him crazy." Naruto snickered as he dodged a swipe at his head. "Come on, you know it's true."

Iruka pointed the bread knife at him warningly. "Shush or you don't get your roast beef."

Naruto sat down, folded his hands on the counter and tried to look perfectly innocent. The sad part was the he pulled it off quite well. Sasuke snorted at the sight. The blonde was the farthest thing from innocent.

Iruka turned on the radio behind him before he started to work on Naruto's sandwich and asking Sasuke what he wanted.

"Just plain turkey and cheese, I suppose."

"You want mayo on that?"

"Uh…sure."

Naruto began playing the beat to the song on the radio with a pair of straws on the counter. "_Let's get this party started , 'cause she was thinkin' Mr. Right and I was thinkin' right now…"_

Sasuke threw a lettuce leaf at the blonde. "You can't sing."

"Like you could do any better, teme."

"I can."

"Prove it."

"I am disinclined to acquiesce to your request."

"You got that from _Pirates!_"

Sasuke shrugged. "So?"

"You cannot do that anywhere close as good as Barbossa."

"Nobody can. What's your point?"

Naruto drummed his fingers on the counter. "…I don't know."

Iruka shook his head exasperatedly at the two boys as he handed them their sandwiches. This kind of thing was one of the reasons he'd left the classroom. But, and Iruka hid a smile at this, he was curious to see how this would turn out.

* * * *

"Was Iruka your teacher?" Sasuke asked as they left the small alleyway.

"Once upon a time." Naruto replied, a fond smile on his lips. "He was there for middle school, helped me actually get into high school."

"Elaborate on that."

"I got into loads of fights in middle school, lots of trouble. Grades were barely above the passing line so I didn't get held back. The high school here had higher standards than that. Iruka helped motivate me, helped me study. He retired after high school though."

"Retired? He's too young."

"Not retired literally. Just from teaching. Said after putting up with me for seven years that he'd be crazy to try and still teach. Can't say I ever regretted going to high school though. That was fun."

"So that's what you meant by the halfway point?"

"Mmhmm. None of us were too good students. Shikamaru was the laziest out of all of us, but he's a genius. If he really wanted or had to, he could've done anything he wanted. The rest of us were just plain average guys. But Chouji got a scholarship to a cooking school in the nest county. He was coming down for spring break. Kiba's going to be a vet, like his sister."

"Your parents didn't say anything to the tattoo?"

"My parents have been dead for years."

Sasuke's blood froze. "…I'm sorry."

Naruto shook his head. "It's fine. Dad always said that the sea was his second love. Mom was his first. And I'm sure Mom's happy to be with Dad." Naruto looked at Sasuke. "I got you all depressed now. Damn. Come on, we'll be late."

"Late?"

"Yeah, the last boat to the little island leaves in ten minutes." Naruto grabbed the paler hand and began to run, pulling Sasuke with him. Sasuke stumbled for a minute before keeping up with little difficulty. He had longer legs than Naruto did, but Naruto was faster than he was. The concrete beneath their feet soon gave way to smooth, slippery planks.

Sasuke skidded a bit and only Naruto's strong hand kept him from falling entirely. Naruto didn't slip at all. Naruto stopped suddenly, making Sasuke slam into his broad back.

"Warn me next time, dobe." Sasuke growled, pulling his hand away from the blonde's.

"Sorry, teme. We're here." The dock wasn't as busy at this time of afternoon, the sun just beginning to set. Naruto walked over to a small boat that, at best, would fit only a few people waving. A person waved back lazily. The person was tall and lanky, windswept silver hair only adding to his height. An eye-patch hid his left eye from view and a thin scarf covered his face from his nose down. He wore a loose short sleeved navy blue shirt tucked into a pair of weatherworn jeans. Plain black sandals were on his feet.

"Hey, sensei." Naruto greeted.

The visible dark gray eye smiled at them. "Hey, Naruto. You know you can stop calling me sensei. I haven't been your teacher for a long time."

"No matter how many times you tell me that, I'm gonna keep calling you that. Oh, this is Uchiha Sasuke, a friend of mine. Sasuke, this is Hatake Kakashi."

Kakashi nodded at Sasuke, knew that he hadn't seen his face in years. The boy had grown into a young man, and while Kakashi wanted to praise him for actually surviving through the hell that was the Uchiha Family, he would wait until the young heir actually earned it. "Nice to meet you." His eye refocused on Naruto. "I take it you want a ride?"

"Please."

"You're lucky. I was about to close."

"Yeah, I know."

Kakashi sighed. "Get in."

Sasuke's balance on the small boat was precarious at best. He'd never been around boats and the undulating rhythm of the waves was foreign to him. He walked semi-gracefully (For Uchihas did not stumble) to the edge and sat, trying not move too much. Naruto stood easily, leaning on the rail. Kakashi had warned him years ago not to help on his boat.

Kakashi's boat* was actually small by most people's standards, but he had a bunk below deck along with a small kitchen and booth. In other words, it was his home. As far as personal items, he kept very few. The only things that gave anyone a hint to the personality of the owner of the boat were the worn green blanket with its black stars and the picture sitting by a window. The picture depicted three people sitting on a pier, all under fourteen.

The boy on the left had messy ebony hair that was kept out of his face only with orange goggles. He had a red Popsicle in his mouth and looked a little lost as he was turning to the camera.

In the middle was a girl with auburn hair just brushing her shoulders. Her intelligent gray eyes sparkled even from the depths of the old photograph. She had a bottle of water in her left hand, a book in her lap. She was half turned to face the camera.

Just to the right of her was the oldest looking boy. Silver hair was highlighted with the bright sunlight and a black and gray speckled scarf hid his lower face from view. Both dark gray eyes had an exasperated look to them, likely in response to whatever had been happening just before the picture was taken. But underneath that look, buried rather deep, was the look that there was nowhere else he'd rather be.

"Why're we taking a boat to the island?"  
"There's no other way to get to the island." Naruto said it as if it was obvious.

"Not why the boat. Why the island?"

"Oh. It's our annual reunion day."

"Reunion day?"

"Yeah. All of us don't always get to see or talk to each other, so we pick one day a year when we all come here and just chill. Tonight's or bonfire, but tomorrow's the real fun."

"So why bring me?"

"I told you I'd show you town as it really was. Besides, you're my friend too. Why shouldn't you come?"

Sasuke looked away from the blonde's honest, open face. He'd never really had friends. He'd never been included in a group. He could have been had he wanted to, but no one had ever automatically included him like this. No one had ever actually taken the time to be nice to him like this. It was an odd feeling.

"Ne, Naruto," Kakashi drawled, "You wanna explain to me why you couldn't come at the same time as everyone else? You could've saved me a trip."

"Blame Iruka."

Kakashi chuckled. "I'll be sure to talk to him about it. In any case, this is as close as I can get you guys. It's low tide and there's a lot of sandbars. You'll have to swim the rest of the way."

Naruto nodded. "Sure." He turned to Sasuke. "You can swim, right?"

"'Course I can swim."

Naruto smiled a lazy, arrogant smile, strolling over to him in away that reminded Sasuke instantly of a cat; graceful in an entirely natural and unconscious way. "That's good news."

Naruto tugged Sasuke to his feet with a speed the Uchiha hadn't known the blonde had and gently pushed him off balance over the side of the boat. Sasuke broke the surface, sputtering, just in time to see Naruto dive into the water in that smooth way that most kids that grew up around water had.

He surfaced a few moments later, grinning widely. Kakashi tossed down his bag that he'd been carrying around all day, but Sasuke had yet to figure out exactly what he had in there. Naruto slipped it on his back and pushed his wet bangs from his eyes.

"You're an ass." Sasuke told him flatly.

"Would you have started swimming if I hadn't?"

Sasuke looked around him. The ocean water looked too bright now, like liquid sunlight that was spilling over his arms and face. Or liquid fire. He looked up at the blonde. He looked perfectly at home treading the water, golden hair looking warmer in the reflected light. Water drops clung to his scarred cheeks and Sasuke found himself wondering what, exactly, had happened to make those scars.

"You guys gonna float there all day?!" Someone called.

Both of the young men turned to the owner of the voice. The person was stocky and his hair was wild. Even from this distance, Sasuke could see two telltale triangles on his cheeks and the large white dog at his side. Kiba, if he wasn't mistaken.

Naruto began to swim, slicing through the water with ease, Sasuke following. It didn't take them long to reach a depth where they could stand. Kakashi hadn't been exaggerating about low tide. Naruto shook his hair free of excess water, his white T-shirt having molded itself to his shape. From where Sasuke stood, he could see the faint outline of his tattoo, although all he could see were spirals.

Kiba immediately wrapped Naruto up into a bear hug. The brunette was only slightly taller than the blonde, but he was definitely stronger. Naruto laughed and gripped his old friend back tightly before stepping back and looking closely at his friend.

"I can stay out there floating if I want to."

"Yeah, but then you'd miss the bonfire and then people are gonna get pissed at you."

"Would those people include Temari and Tenten?"

"Mmhmm."

"…Yeah, I wouldn't stay floating. Oh, Kiba, this is Uchiha Sasuke. He's joining us."

Kiba waved jauntily while the white dog looked at Sasuke curiously. "This is Akamaru."

Sasuke found he couldn't comment. He didn't know what to say to something like this. Kiba didn't know a thing about him and he was being so friendly.

"Jeez, Naruto. Late much?" A platinum blonde haired girl complained, but there was a smile on her face. She pushed her sunglasses down low enough so Sasuke could see her baby blues. "And this handsome devil is…"

"Uchiha Sasuke." Kiba answered, but came to her ear and whispered something. Sasuke couldn't hear what was said, but apparently Naruto did because he reached out and smacked Kiba in the side of the head.

"Shut it, dog-boy."

"Sure thing, sunshine." Kiba began running, sand kicking up behind his heels as Naruto chased him down the beach.

The girl laughed and held out her right hand. "I'm Yamanaka Ino."  
Sasuke shook her hand, a little bewildered by what was going on. He noticed for the first time what she was wearing. A short blue skirt was tied around her hips and her bikini top that barely covered what was important was all that shielded her body from view.

Sasuke followed her farther down the beach, where he could now see a large crowd of people. Well, a larger crowd of people than he was used to seeing. Close to the water, he could see Naruto and Kiba's silhouette's wrestling. Near the bonfire that had been built, there was a redhead who just barely turned his head to look at Sasuke. Black-rimmed sea green eyes locked with his. The young man had pale skin that clashed sharply with his blood red hair. Sasuke wondered if that was his natural color.

A girl was sitting next to him, her hair so black that it looked blue, like a raven's wing. Her bathing suit thankfully covered more of her curves than Ino's did. Her pale eyes reflected the firelight as she concentrated on the book in her hands.

Another girl, her looks much more plain, had a guitar in hand as she leaned back against a palm tree. Her dark brown hair was pulled into a bun with tendrils loose around her face. Her skin was lightly tanned and she wore pale green board shorts low enough on her hips that Sasuke could see the bottom part of her two-piece. A tattoo of Tinkerbelle was just above her left ankle.

A faintly familiar pinkette came up to them, Naruto just behind her. There was sand in his hair now. He ran a hand through the locks that had only gotten messier. "I'd introduce you to everyone, but we're missin' a few people."

"Shikamaru's gone and disappeared with Temari."

Naruto groaned. "We won't be able to find them until tomorrow morning then. What happened with Kankurou?"  
"_That _is anybody's guess." The pinkette turned to Sasuke. "Hey, Sasuke. You probably don't remember me. I'm Haruno Sakura. I work in Naruto's café."

"_Sakura brews it on and off. Sakura! Any hot caffeinated beverages?"__  
_The girl that had made him the coffee that morning. "Nice to officially meet you."

Sakura laughed and it was higher than the laughter that Sasuke had become accustomed to hearing from being with Naruto all day. "Same here." She turned to Ino. "Now, I think it's time we find your boyfriend."

"You mean the one that's her boyfriend only in her dreams?" Naruto questioned, face innocent save for the mischievous glint in his eyes.

"Shut it, sunshine!"

Naruto held up his hands in the universal sign for 'calm down'. Both of the girls rolled their eyes and headed down the beach. Naruto looked at Sasuke. "No matter how long I may know them, I don't think I will ever understand women. Come on, I'll introduce you to the rest."

Sasuke followed him, hating the way that sand stuck to his wet jeans and shoes. The bonfire flared in heat, making Sasuke shift uncomfortably. He always preferred the cold. The girl playing guitar stopped, a hand on the strings to stop their vibrating, and she waved with the other hand.

"Sasuke, that's Tenten." Naruto pointed at the redhead, "Gaara Sabaku, and Hyuuga Hinata."

Hinata looked up from her book, smiling shyly. Not in the way that most girls did, in a flirtatious way, but in a way that said that she was just a shy person. Gaara nodded a greeting to him, eyes flicking between him and Naruto.

Sakura and Ino came back, a young man with a bird's nest of brown hair and dark brown eyes in tow. The man's eyes brightened when he saw Naruto.

"Hey, sunshine! Been a while, huh?"

"Does everyone have to keep callin' me sunshine?"

"'Course we do. It's under our friend rights." he replied, an arm slung around Naruto's shoulder.

Naruto scowled at him, before introducing Sasuke to him. Kankurou Sabaku, Gaara's older brother.

"There any chance of finding your sister?" Ino asked, hands on her hips.

"Nope, sorry. She and Shikamaru are like ninjas, man. I couldn't find them anywhere."

"Or ya know, they're geniuses and can find a really good hiding spot." Tenten reasoned.

"'Tis their power of youth!" Sasuke looked at the owner of the voice and regretted it. The young man was tall and lanky with lean muscles. His coal black hair was bowl cut style and his equally black eyebrows were thick and accented his strong-boned face. That wasn't the part Sasuke regretted. The young man was wearing a bright green Speedo.

Sakura buried her face in her hands. "Lee, seriously. You have to get board shorts."

Naruto and Lee put an arm around each other's shoulders. "Relax, Sakura. Speedos help him feel like a manly man. And you're only objecting because it's not your boyfriend in the Speedo."

"Shut. Up." Sakura's emerald eyes glared out at Naruto from between her fingers, ruining the effect.

Kiba's head appeared on Naruto's shoulder. "A boyfriend? Sakura? Do tell."

Sakura's cheeks flamed. She knew her boys. This would go on all of tonight and tomorrow.

Naruto tilted his head so that it was leaning on Kiba's. "Weeell, Sakura was coming late to work for a good long time. I just figured it was 'cause she was lazy. Well, Shikamaru tells me otherwise last week. He tells me that there's a certain closet in the medical wing of the college that is frequently frequented by Sakura and none other that Hyuuga Neji."

Naruto felt rather than saw Kiba's jaw drop. "_What?_" Kiba looked between Naruto's profile and Sakura's redder than red face. "Hyuuga Neji? Our Hyuuga Neji? Hinata's cousin? The icecube? _That's_ who you're dating, Haruno?"

Sakura stood, glaring at him full frontal now. "I don't think my love life is any of your business, Inuzuka, considering yours."

"Low blow. And it actually is my business. Older brother rights."

"Those rights are starting to piss me off."

"That's kind of an older brother's job." Naruto pointed out.

"Who's side are you on?!" Sakura exclaimed.

"The one with the more blackmail." He stated simply.

Sasuke felt a smile beginning to try and make its way across his lips. They were all so casual with each other, though he was a little surprised at the names they had for each other. He knew that Naruto and Kiba couldn't be related to Sakura, they looked absolutely nothing alike.

Kiba removed his head from Naruto's shoulder to look at Hinata. "Did you know about this?"

"Neji doesn't really talk much…" Hianta said evasively, her voice still quiet. Definitely shy.

Both Kiba and Naruto got the same roguish grins on their faces. Everyone in the vicinity recognized the expression. It meant that Sakura was gonna get a double whammy of brother teasing, the worst kind when it's about your love life.

"He might not talk much, but I'm sure he's quite _loud._"

Sakura's fists clenched. "Drop it." She glanced angrily at Naruto, who did nothing more than give her the same lazy, arrogant smile that he'd given Sasuke after he'd pushed him into the water. "You guys are infuriating." She stalked away, Ino following closely.

"Nice job pissing her off." Kankurou remarked. He'd learned a long time ago that the big brother card didn't work forever.

"Better to get her pissed off now and make sure she knows that the worst o the teasing's over than to have to deal with it tomorrow." Naruto said reasonably.

"What's tomorrow?" Sasuke asked.

Naruto grinned at him. "Tomorrow's the competition."

-/-/-/-/-/-/

*Think Bill's boat from Mamma Mia.


	5. Competitions and Aspirins

**Disclaimer:** Don't own! The songs are High School Never Ends by Bowling for Soup, All Summer Long by Kid Rock and Stacy's Mom by Fountains of Wayne.

**Author's Note:** I went to Blizzard Beach last weekend! _Absolute_ fun, that is. Course, I don't like heights, so I didn't get to go on the two biggest (and best, so I've heard) waterslides, but the lazy river is always fun. And I watched _Willow,_ _The Count of Monte Cristo, Ella Enchanted _and _Made of Honor. _Those movies are simply amazing. I can't come up with a better word for them. I can't believe I didn't watch them sooner.

-~-~-~-~-

"_Yesterday brought the beginning, tomorrow brings the end, and somewhere in the middle we became the best of friends." ~Author Unknown_

-~-~-~-~

Someone was shaking his shoulder. Couldn't they let him sleep? Please…sleep.

"Ice princess, come on." Another shake, somewhat harder. "Gotta wake up if you want breakfast."

Obsidian eyes snapped open to glare at the person. A wide grin was spread across tattooed cheeks. "Morning, princess."

"Kiba! You should've let him sleep!" A reproachful feminine voice scolded.

Kiba sat back on his heels, shrugging. "I was trying to be a good citizen." He looked back down at Sasuke. "If it weren't for me, you'd be going hungry."

Sasuke sat up, squinting his eyes in the powerful sunlight. "What time is it?"

Kiba cocked his head. "'Bout eight, nine in the mornin'. Why?"

Nine in the morning…that was why he was so disoriented. He never woke up that late. "It's nothing."

"Mmhmm. Either way, breakfast is ready. Sunshine told me you're allergic to milk?"

Why would the sun be talking, let alone to Kiba? Sunshine…oh, Naruto. "Uh, yeah."

"Hear that, Sakura? See why I didn't let you put milk in his coffee?" Kiba said, getting to his feet.

Sakura stuck her tongue out at him, before turning and smiling at Sasuke. "Morning, Sasuke. Food's first come, first serve."

Sasuke looked around the remains of their small fire. On recyclable, paper plates were various muffins, turnovers and sweet cakes. Sakura was distributing coffee in foam cups. There was a skinny young man that Sasuke could recognize from the photo in Iruka's store. Shikamaru, if he wasn't mistaken.

Shikamaru was wearing a dark green tank top that exposed a tattoo on his shoulder. It looked like an Egyptian cross with an Egyptian eye right at the intersection of the cross, all inked in shades of blue. He had his legs crossed and a plate with half a pastry eaten on it.

Beside him was a young woman, dirty blonde hair in four messy ponytails. She wore a skirt that went to mid-thigh to cover her bathing suit. The skirt was white with red and purple swooshes on one side. She wore a loose T-shirt that read, 'Surgeon General's Warning: Nagging me about smoking could be a hazard to your health.' That must be the girl they were trying to find last night, Temari.

Kiba had moved and was prodding Naruto awake. The blonde rolled over, getting a face-full of sand. Naruto jerked awake, sputtering. Naruto glared at his friend, the effect lost through the mask of sand that was Kiba gently brushing away.

"Nice one, sunshine."

Naruto gave him a flat look and Kiba chuckled. "Close your eyes."

Naruto obliged, and Kiba swept the sand from his forehead. "There, clean."

Naruto murmured his thanks before his eyes landed on the food. "You guys went through my bag?"

"You were the one that said you were bringing the food." Temari pointed out. "You gotta specify whether you want us going through your stuff or not. And what, do you have some dirty little secret that someone shouldn't see in the bag?"

Naruto smiled sweetly at her. "Hark who's talking. I'm not the one wearing my boyfriend's shirt."

"Don't be jealous."

Naruto rolled his eyes, picking up a banana walnut muffin and smiling at Sasuke. "Morning!"

"You wake up too easily." Sasuke told him.

"You say that like it's a bad thing." Naruto plopped down beside him. "Didja sleep okay?"

"Fine, I guess. Is all the food what you brought in the bag?"

"That and towels." Naruto read the look on Sasuke's face. "Ah…I should've told you that, huh?"

Naruto was spared from Sasuke's answer.

_HEY! Oh Oh, Oh Oh Oh-Oh, _

_Oh Oh Oh-Oh, Oh Oh Oh-Oh _

_HEY! Oh Oh, Oh Oh Oh-Oh, _

_Oh Oh Oh-Oh, Oh Oh Oh-Oh HEY! _

Everyone had jumped and they all looked over at the source of the noise. Tenten was kneeling with her hand on the dial of a small, portable radio. But Tenten, a natural technician, had somehow made the music blast from speakers no bigger than Naruto's thumb.

_Four years you think for sure _

_That's all you've got to endure _

_All the total dicks, all the stuck-up chicks _

_So superficial, so immature _

_Then when you graduate, you take a look around and you say _

_"Hey Wait!" _

_This is the same as where I just came from, _

_I thought it was over, _

_Aw, that's just great. _

_The Whole Damned World is just as obsessed _

_With whos the best dressed and who's havin' sex_

_Who's got the money, _

_Who gets the honeys, Who's kinda cute and who's just a mess _

_And you still don't have the right look _

_And you don't have the right friends _

_Nothing changes but the faces, the names, and the trends _

_High School Never Ends _

_Oh Oh, Oh Oh Oh-Oh, _

_Oh Oh Oh-Oh, Oh Oh Oh-Oh HEY! _

_Oh Oh, Oh Oh Oh-Oh, _

_Oh Oh Oh-Oh, Oh Oh Oh-Oh HEY! _

Naruto and Kiba snapped and swayed to the beat, singing at the top of their lungs. Sasuke supposed that was their own way of dancing, however horrible they were at it.

"_Check out the popular kids _

_You'll never guess what Jessica did! _

_And how did Mary Kate lose all that weight? _

_And Katie had a baby so I guess Tom's straight! _

_And the only thing that matters, _

_Is climbing up that social ladder _

_Still care about your hair and the car you drive _

_Doesn't matter if you're 16 or 35 _

_Reese Witherspoon, she's the Prom Queen _

_Bill Gates, Captain of the chess team _

_Jack Black, the clown _

_Brad Pitt, the quarterback _

_Seen it all before _

_I want my money back! _

_The whole damn world is just as obsessed _

_With who's the best dressed and who's havin' sex _

_Who's in the club and who's on the drugs _

_And who's throwin' up before they digest _

_And you still don't have the right look_

_And you don't have the right friends _

_And you still listen to the same shit you did back then _

_High School Never Ends _

_Oh Oh, Oh Oh Oh-Oh, _

_Oh Oh Oh-Oh, Oh Oh Oh-Oh _

_High School Never Ends_

_The Whole Damned World is just as obsessed _

_With who's the best dressed and who's havin' sex _

_Who's got the money _

_Who gets the hunnies _

_Who's kinda cute and who's just a mess _

_And I still don't have the right look _

_And I still have the same 3 friends _

_And I'm pretty much the same as I was back then _

_High School Never Ends"_

The others applauded, laughing while Naruto and Kiba bowed. Another song came on and the boys began singing to that, miming parts of the song. Kiba even did the L'Oreal hair flip for the first line.

"_It was 1989 my thoughts were short my hair was long _

_Caught somewhere between a boy and man, _

_She was 17 and she was far from in-between _

_It was summer-time in Northern Michigan _

_Splashing through the sand-bar, talking by the camp fire, _

_It's the simple things in life like when and where _

_We didn't have no internet but man I never will forget _

_The way the moon light shined upon her hair _

_And, we were trying different things _

_We were smoking funny things _

_Making love out by the lake to our favorite song _

_Sipping whisky out the bottle not thinking bout tomorrow _

_Singing Sweet Home Alabama all summer long _

_Singing Sweet Home Alabama all summer long _

_Catching walleye from the dock _

_Watching the waves roll off the rocks _

_She'll forever hold a spot inside my soul _

_We blister in the sun _

_We couldn't wait for night to come _

_To hit that saving place of rock and roll" _

Kankurou joined in halfway through, and while Sasuke knew that none of them could sing, it didn't sound truly bad. It sounded natural, for lack of a better word.

"_While, we were trying different things _

_We were smoking funny things _

_Making love out by the lake to our favorite song _

_Sipping whisky out the bottle, not thinking bout tomorrow _

_Singing Sweet Home Alabama all summer long _

_Singing Sweet Home Alabama all summer long _

_Now nothing seems as strange as when the leaves begin to change _

_Or how we thought those days would never end _

_Sometimes I hear that song and I start to sing along_

_And think, 'Man I'd like to see that girl again' _

_And, we were trying different things _

_We were smoking funny things _

_Making love out by the lake to our favorite song _

_Sipping whisky out the bottle not thinking bout tomorrow _

_Singing Sweet Home Alabama all summer long _

_We were trying different things _

_We were smoking funny things _

_Making love out by the lake to our favorite song _

_Sipping whisky out the bottle not thinking bout tomorrow _

_Singing Sweet Home Alabama all summer long _

_Singing Sweet Home Alabama all summer long _

"I always forget how bad you guys sing." Ino laughed. "No more, please no more."

"One more?" Naruto gave her the Bambi eyes.

"…Fine."

The three guys high-fived. Tenten grinned, hitting a button on the radio and an old favorite of Kiba's came on. He and the others grinned. They all knew that Sakura and Ino _hated_ this song.

"_Stacy's mom has got it goin' on _

_Stacy's mom has got it goin' on _

_Stacy's mom has got it goin' on _

_Stacy, can I come over after school? (after school) _

_We can hang around by the pool (hang by the pool) _

_Did your mom get back from her business trip? (business trip) _

_Is she there, or is she trying to give me the slip? (give me the slip) _

_You know, I'm not the little boy that I used to be _

_I'm all grown up now, baby can't you see? _

_Stacy's mom has got it goin' on _

_She's all I want and I've waited for so long _

_Stacy, can't you see you're just not the girl for me _

_I know it might be wrong but I'm in love with Stacy's mom _

_Stacy's mom has got it goin' on _

_Stacy's mom has got it goin' on" _

Lee laughed as he sprang to his feet, thankfully in a pair of basketball shorts, and joined in with the others.

"_Stacy, do you remember when I mowed your lawn? (mowed your lawn) _

_Your mom came out with just a towel on (towel on) _

_I could tell she liked me from the way she stared (way she stared) _

_And the way she said, "You missed a spot over there" (spot over there) _

_And I know that you think it's just a fantasy _

_But since your dad walked out, your mom could use a guy like me _

_Stacy's mom has got it goin' on _

_She's all I want, and I've waited so long _

_Stacy, can't you see you're just not the girl for me _

_I know it might be wrong, but I'm in love with Stacy's mom _

_Stacy's mom has got it goin' on _

_She's all I want and I've waited for so long, _

_Stacy can't you see your just not the girl for me, _

_I know it might be wrong but oh oh (I know it might be wrong) _

_I'm in love with (Stacy's mom oh oh) (Stacys mom oh oh) _

_I'm in love with Stacy's mom"_

A final round of applause and the boys collapsed on the sand, their eyes tearing up with laughter. Shikamaru still had a smile tugging on his lips, but he said to Sasuke, "Amazing how none of us have gone deaf yet."

"Aw, come on, Shika. You like those songs."  
"Not when tone-deaf people sing them." Shikamaru retorted.

"I second that." Gaara added. He'd been lying peacefully on his stomach, head resting on his arms with his eyes facing them. Sasuke would have said he was lying there with a feline grace, but that wasn't it. There was something colder there, more reptilian than any cat.

Sasuke had nearly forgotten the redhead was there. Gaara hadn't made any movements or sounds. As Sasuke glanced around, he found that he'd nearly forgotten the shy girl, Hinata, was there as well. She had her hand holding her place in the book, whose title he could now read. _The Other Boleyn Girl_; Sasuke had heard vaguely of it.

Ino came to her knees in front of Hinata, and had it not been for her bathing suit underneath the skirt, she would have flashed all of them. She plucked the book from Hinata's hands and folded down the corner of the page. "C'mon Hinata, you can't sit and read all day. We're here for fun!" The blonde stood, hands on hips. "Voting time, people. We got a choice between volleyball or surfing."

Naruto glanced out at the waves and looked back at Ino. "Ino, surfing isn't an option. The waves aren't nearly high enough yet."

Sasuke looked out at the waves. They certainly looked high enough to him, but then again, he wasn't the best judge for this kind of thing.

"Volleyball it is!" Kankurou grinned wolfishly at Naruto. "I'm gonna kick your ass at this, sunshine."

Naruto's competitiveness flared. "No way!"

"I'm curious." A voice called. "How did you expect to surf without surfboards?"

Everyone looked over. Iruka was standing there, surfboards under both arms with Kakashi in a similar position beside him. And just behind them, was a chubby boys with swirls on his cheeks, biting his lip to keep from laughing. Smiles broke out on everyone's faces and Kiba and Naruto ran up to the chubby boy and hugged him tight.

"Jeez, Chouji, took you long enough. Never would've pegged you one for bein' late." Shikamaru said as a greeting as he strolled up to them.

"Well, if it weren't for me, you guys wouldn't be able to go surfing, so there. And besides, my bus got into loads of traffic." Chouji pulled back from Kiba and Naruto to hug Shikamaru. The contrast was startling; skinny against not so skinny, but it flowed. Like some cosmic law had made everything about them and this crazy, rag-tag group blend together so that it seemed like family.

"Ne, sensei, are you staying?" Naruto asked, looking up at his mentors.

"Somebody needs to watch you guys." Iruka told him. "How you guys even considered surfing with those waves…"

Naruto rolled his eyes, but smiled at Kakashi. "Come on, Kakashi. We need even numbers for volleyball."

"Iruka can be your judge. God knows how much you guys like to cheat."  
Naruto put a hand to his chest. "Me, cheat?"

Everyone in the vicinity arched their eyebrows at him and he laughed. "Okay, so I cheat a bit. Like you never have."

"You guys kicked me out of the game last time I cheated. I was hurt." It was obvious from his voice and the twinkle in his visible eye that Kakashi was grinning.

"That's something new?"

"Such cold-hearted people. No, I'm gonna sit down and chill."  
"Read your porn, you mean." Naruto muttered.

"Did you say something, Naruto?"

Naruto smiled innocently. "Nothing!"

"Hurry it up, guys! We wanna play!" Ino called.

The boys seemed to roll their eyes in unison before sprinting back to everyone. "Do you have a ball?"

"'Course I do." Ino loosened her drawstring bag and tossed the white ball to Naruto, who caught it out of reflex. "Now we just need to figure out the teams."

Naruto strode to Hinata and gently pulled her to her feet. "C'mon, Hinata. You're on my team. Your turn, Ino."

"Kiba."

"Shikamaru."

"Sakura."

"Sasuke." Sasuke walked to stand beside Hinata, a little dubious. He'd never played volleyball, though he'd seen it sometimes on TV.

"Chouji."

"Tenten."

"Kankurou."

"Gaara."

Temari went to stand behind Ino without being told. Iruka had set up a net with some help from Kakashi and Lee, who had sprained his wrist the week before and was still trying to get it back up to full strength, though it looked a bit shaky.

"Do you know how to play?" Sasuke asked Hinata quietly. He had a feeling she would be the one person who wouldn't make fun of him for it.

The pale eyes looked at him. "Y-yes. All you have to do is hit the ball over the net and you c-can only hit it once while it's on your side."

It sounded easy enough.

"Naruto, your serve." Sakura told him.

It took Sasuke a moment to find Naruto. He was towards the back, slightly bent over and he threw the ball up lightly before hitting soundly with his fist. The ball soared over the net and the game began. Sasuke lost track of the ball several times as it switched sides faster than his eyes could follow, but the ball was drawn sharply to his attention when Hinata hit it back to the other team, stumbling into him as the sand shifted beneath her feet.

"Sasuke, watch it!"

The words didn't entirely register as everything around him moved in slow-motion. Kiba was jumping nearly two feet from the ground and there was a loud smack as his hand met the ball and the white orb was hurtling towards him…and then he was gazing up at an expanse that was impossibly blue, absently noting three things; one, that Kiba was a very hard hitter; two, that balls hurt when they were hit with that kind of strength and finally three, that the blue expanse reminded him of Naruto's eyes.

The very same eyes that were now directly in his line of sight, gazing at him worriedly. "Blink if you can hear me, Sasuke."

Sasuke blinked.

"Can you talk?"

"Yeah."

"Now, do you want an aspirin?"

And now that Naruto mentioned it, there was a throbbing pain in Sasuke's skull. He began to nod, but stopped when there was a wave of pain. Naruto disappeared for a few moments and Sasuke found himself looking at the expanse that he now recognized as the sky. Out of his line of vision, he could hear people talking.

"I didn't mean to hit him!" Kiba was saying. "I thought he'd move!"

"Apparently not, Kiba." Sakura sounded angry.

Naruto's head reappeared in his vision and there was a gentle, but strong hand helping him slowly sit up. Sasuke took the offered aspirin and bottle of water. As he washed down the pill with the water, Naruto said, "Kiba hit you pretty hard. Volleyball is not the best game to space out in."

"I can tell." Sasuke told him sourly and Naruto let out a short laugh.

"Well, if it makes you feel any better, we won." Seeing Sasuke's utter lack of understanding on it, Naruto elaborated. "Out of all of the stuff we do today, whoever has the most losses has to take all the trash back and treat everyone to dinner when we get home."

"Dinner? Where?"

"No idea. We usually just kinda drive or walk around until we find an interesting place."

"Do you guys ever have a plan?"

Naruto looked at him like he'd never heard the idea. "If you plan every single little thing out, you could never have any fun." Naruto stood, offering a hand up. Sasuke deliberated for a moment before taking it, allowing himself to be pulled to his feet. His head swam for a moment, but then it cleared.

"Dare I ask what's next?" Sasuke said.

"Swimming races."

"Wonderful."

"Not a fast swimmer?"

"I only learned how to swim so I wouldn't drown."

Naruto laughed. "You are too practical. There is such a thing as using practicality for fun."

Sasuke didn't reply to that, wasn't entirely sure that he could.

"Naruto, captains are up first!" Iruka called.

Sasuke joined the others who were standing back a bit away from the shoreline while Naruto went to stand beside Ino, standing thigh deep in the waves. Ino had already shed her skirt while Naruto stripped of the white T-shirt.

"Okay, you two. Whoever touches the rock and gets back here first wins. Agreed?" Iruka was explaining and Sasuke looked out to see what rock he was talking about. It was a ways out, jagged and black against the horizon.

"Set, go!"

A fierce splash was all Sasuke saw as the two blonde dove into the water. Ino came up for air almost immediately, still swimming with smooth strokes, but Sasuke could see a streak of gold beneath the shifting waters. It was another minute before Naruto's head broke the water; powerful arms letting him slice through the water.

They switched directions with ease, pushing off of the rock and shooting forward, nearly neck and neck. But Naruto was taller, if only by a few inches. Perhaps that was all he would need.

A wave pushed them the rest of the way, both of them letting the water carry them to the sand and not bothering to get up. Although they both did roll on their backs and look at Iruka for confirmation.

"Ino won that one." Iruka smiled in response to the shocked look on Naruto's face. "She stretched her arms out more."

Naruto cursed and stood, holding a hand out to Ino. She smirked and ignored his hand, getting to her own feet. He rolled his eyes, but picked his shirt up from the sand and threw it over one shoulder. Sasuke's eyes were immediately drawn to the design inked on Naruto's toned abdomen.

It didn't have a definitive shape, but the black spirals curled around his waist and, because of his low-riding board shorts, Sasuke could see that they continued on the subtle angle of his hip, disappearing into his shorts. In the center of the tattoo, directly around his naval, the ink's spirals coiled tighter, the black seeming to shift to a midnight blue or darkest green in some areas.

There was another tattoo high on his left shoulder, one that had normally been hidden by sleeves. It was an ornate Ace of Spades card that had been set on fire, the flames brilliantly blue and white.

Sasuke must have been staring too long, because Naruto grinned roguishly at him. "Like what you see?"

Sasuke forced down the slight pink that he knew would have been coming to his cheeks and glared at the man. "I don't know what you're talking about."

Naruto gave him an odd look, one that Sasuke couldn't entirely read, and went to talk to Tenten. Sasuke forced his eyes away from the lean, tanned back that Naruto now presented him with. Sakura was watching him with knowing eyes.

"Something wrong?" He asked.

"No, nothing. Just that if you wanna go out with Naruto, you're gonna have to spell it out for him. He's a little oblivious." Naruto had finished his conversation with Tenten and was now walking over. Sakura switched topics abruptly. "How's your head?"

"Fine. The aspirin helped."

Sakura smiled. "Good. I knew it was a good idea to bring a bottle with me. With all of you guys, I'm lucky I don't have to bring a defibrillator."

"That hurts, Sakura. We're not that bad." Naruto said. He amended quickly seeing the look on her face. "Okay, am I really that bad?"

"Truthfully? Yes."

"Ouch."

"Can it, Naruto." Sakura turned to Sasuke. "You gonna be able to swim with the headache?"

Sasuke stared at her. "How'd you know I have a headache? I took medicine."

"She's a doctor in training. She'd be a bad one if she couldn't tell if you had a headache. Hell, _I_ could tell you had one." Naruto said, putting a brotherly arm around Sakura's shoulders. Sasuke wondered if he was imagining the hint of pride in Naruto's voice at the mention of Sakura being a doctor. "And you avoided the question quite nicely, by the way."

"What're you talking about?"

"You won't be able to swim with the headache, will you?" The perceptiveness that Naruto showed at odd moments was back in his eyes.

Sasuke didn't answer.

"I'll take that as a no. But ya know, I don't think Lee'll mind filling in for you."

Sakura groaned a bit. "Remind me that, for his birthday, we buy him some board shorts."

"I'm telling you, it's because it's Lee. If it was your beloved _Neji_ in the Speedos, you wouldn't care."

"I don't need to see a guy who's practically my brother in Speedos, okay?"

Naruto got a thoughtful look on his face and Sakura punched him in the arm. The punch looked powerful from Sasuke's point of view, but Naruto didn't even flinch. "Don't even think about it, Naruto."

"I would never do that." Naruto raised three fingers to heaven in a scout's salute. "Scout's honor.'

"Riiight."

Naruto rolled his eyes, dropping his arm back to his side. "I'm gonna tell Lee the good news."  
"You're planning something." Sakura told him, tone suspicious.

Naruto turned, walking backwards towards Lee and the others. One hand was pressed right over his heart and his eyes were wide, innocent. "_Moi?_"

"Yeah, you."

"Why, I would never dream of plotting something diabolical against you, Sakura." Naruto's words were proved false as a grin spread across his face.

* * * *

It was hours later that everyone was laying on the sand, the salt water on their bodies drying in the sun's heat. It was nearing sunset now, almost time to start heading home, as Temari had remarked. But it was clear that no one actually wanted to leave. The rest of the world seemed removed from this place, like this place was their sanctuary away from work, worries, and sickness.

Sasuke lay on his back, eyes closed. He'd actually learned things today. He learned how to surf, courtesy of Shikamaru, who actually had quite the talent for it. They'd gone on a walk around the small island and he'd watched as Naruto had held still long enough for a shy deer to come close enough until he could gently stroke between its eyes and along its back. No one else stepped closer, however, as if they were afraid of breaking the peaceful scene. A curious fox had crept into their group and walked with them, mostly beside Naruto. Kankurou told him that they used to do a sand castle contest, but they'd given it up because Gaara won every single time.

"Iruka-sensei, who won?" Chouji asked, sitting up.

"Well, the surfing was a rather close call, but the fact that Naruto didn't fall this year and that they had a beginner on their team, Naruto's team wins."

Naruto and Tenten grinned at each other, and the blonde hugged Hinata quickly, and Sasuke noted the raging blush that flared on her cheeks. Naruto looked at her, concerned. "Ne, Hinata, don't tell me you forgot your sunscreen this time. You look a little sunburned." Gaara and Lee shook their heads, exchanging exasperated looks. Apparently, this wasn't the first time something like this had happened.

Hinata shook her head. "I-I'm fine."

Kiba snorted in disbelief and Naruto looked at him with a confused expression. Kiba just smiled and the baker knew he wasn't getting a reply from him any time soon.

Tenten stood, slipping her T-shirt over her head. "Okay, I am starving. Who votes for going to get food?"

Chouji and Naruto's hands shot in the air, with Kiba's following close behind. Sasuke raised his hand slightly. He was only a little hungry, not quite starving just yet. Eventually, almost everyone's hands were in the air.

"Any idea where you guys are gonna go eat? I need suggestions. Gas ain't cheap anymore, you know." Kakashi told them, smiling. He knew the group all too well.

"We could go to that sushi bar not far from the docks. That way, you don't need to drive, Kakashi." Temari said.

"Can't." Naruto protested. "Sasuke's allergic to shellfish." Sasuke looked over at him, surprised he'd remembered, even if he had only told him yesterday.

"There's a new Spanish place not far from the shop." Ino mentioned.

"Works for me." Kiba said.

"Agreed." Gaara spoke up.

"It's decided." Ino said."

"And now we all pile into my tiny car." Kakashi said, sighing.  
"Stop whining, Kakashi. We have my car too." Iruka told him.

"Your car isn't much bigger, Iruka-sensei." Naruto reminded.

Iruka smiled sweetly at him. "Then you can be a gentleman and go in the trunk."

Naruto stared at him, mouth agape. "C'mon, Iruka-sensei! Your Blazer is dangerous in the back! You have--"

Iruka and Kakashi both sent him a sharp warning look and Naruto quieted, his protests dying to mutterings. "Fine, I'll go in the back. Make me stay cramped."

"Surely it won't be so cramped for you." Kiba slung an arm around the blonde's shoulders. "You are small after all, sunshine."

Kiba found himself holding an ice pack to his eye the entire way to the restaurant.


	6. Of Scars and Tattoos

**Disclaimer:** Don't own anything!

**Author's Note: **I am sooooo sorry that I haven't been updating lately. School's been swamping me. For those of you waiting for the next chapters of Painting Freedom and The Silver Lining, the next chapters are getting written. I had to do a lot of research for both, but I finally got all of it together.

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"_We must not expect happiness, Sayuri. It is not something we deserve. When life goes well, it's a sudden gift. It cannot last forever."-Chairman__** (Memoirs of a Geisha)**_

-~-~-~-~

The Spanish place that Ino had mentioned, Pioco's Chicken, wasn't big, but it wasn't tiny either. It had a sense of home, even though Sasuke was sure that none of them were Spanish. The walls were a warm, burned yellow and the second they all walked in, the scent of hot food made all their stomachs grumble.

Naruto put a hand on Sasuke's shoulder for balance, standing on tiptoe to try and see over everyone's heads at the menu. Sasuke looked at him sideways. "You could just wait your turn."

"Yeah, but I'm curious. There aren't many Spanish places in town. I wanna know what they have."

"Curiosity killed the cat."

"I'd say it's a very good thing I'm not a cat then. And even if I was one, I've got nine lives. I'm okay."

It took another twenty minutes, but they finally reached the counter. Naruto's eyes flicked through the menu before ordering a _medianoche_ sandwich, literally translated into midnight sandwich, and a Coke. The sandwich had ham, pickles, mustard, cheese and a longer list of things.

Sasuke ordered a simple ham and cheese with Sprite. They all had to go sit and the tables and wait for their orders. The tables were tile mosaics that depicted places and symbols of Puerto Rico. The one that Sasuke, Naruto, Kiba and Sakura sat down at had a small brown frog with the Puerto Rican flag waving behind it.

Sasuke noticed the way that Naruto's eyes wandered to the pastry and dessert display. One of the women behind the counter must have caught the look too, because she said, "You want one?"

Naruto rose to talk to her, leaning on the display. "No, that's fine. I was wondering how you made them."

She smiled then. "Are you a baker?"

"Yes, ma'am."

"I could get our cook over here, Unfortunately, I'm new here and don't know how to make these."

"I'd love to talk to the cook, if it isn't too much trouble."

The woman looked at all of them waiting at the tables. "I think it'd be better if you came back here and talked to him if you all want your food on time."

"Sure thing."

The cook was a stocky man with tanned skin, dark hair pulled back underneath a white hat. He was about to question why the blonde was back there, but apparently no introduction was necessary. The cook handed Naruto an apron and told him to help, and the cook talked to Naruto while they both prepared food.

Sasuke had never really seen Naruto bake. The blonde had an ease about the kitchen from long familiarity. He spoke easily with the kitchen staff, asking a lot of questions, and he seemed to understand everything that the cook was telling him, though a good bit of it was in Spanish.

"Does Naruto know Spanish?" Sasuke asked Sakura.

She shook her head. "Not much more than the bare basics that just about everyone knows." She smiled fondly at the blonde. "I never quite understand how he's so good with people. Even if he doesn't speak anything of their language, he'll get along with them. It's weird."

"Yeah…weird."

It took less than the promised ten minutes for their food and Naruto slid into the seat beside Kiba with his paper plate with the sandwich and the Coke. "Not writing down any of those new recipes?" Kiba asked before taking a bite of his ham sandwich.

Naruto gave him an odd look. "Why would I need to?"

"Oh yeah. I forgot about your 'photographic memory'."

Naruto smirked around his Coke can. "Don't be jealous."

Kiba rolled his eyes. "Whatever. Hey, do you want your extra pickles?"

Naruto shook his head and Kiba picked the green vegetables off of his plate. Naruto set down the sandwich, nearly finished with the first half, and stretched. "This place isn't bad. I like it."

Sakura smiled. "That's only 'cause you got so many recipes."

"The food's not bad." Naruto argued and Sakura laughed.

"Well, the lady behind the counter that took you to the cook, she seemed rather taken with you."

The cerulean eyes blinked. "Was she?"

"You're blind, Naruto. You wouldn't see a possible love interest if they were right in front of you." Sasuke glanced sideways at Sakura, wondering if she'd said was coincidence. At the slight smirk to her smile, he knew it hadn't been.

"You tell me that every time."

"Because you don't change!"

Naruto shrugged. "Is not changing such a bad thing?"

Sakura sighed. "I'm not even going to try and argue this with you."

"You never do." Naruto replied, going back to his sandwich before looking back up at Sasuke. "Ne, is your dad gonna throw a hissy fit 'cause you went pretty much missing for two days?"

Sasuke thought about it, swirling his Sprite, before shaking his head. "No. He won't."_ He probably didn't even notice I'd gone,_ was what he didn't say, but perhaps Naruto heard it anyway because he was looking at Sasuke with some concern in the scarred features.

"Where'd you get the scars?" Sasuke asked suddenly. He'd noticed them before, it was impossible not to, but it couldn't have been from a simple everyday accident. Not those kinds of scars.

Sakura tensed a bit beside him and Kiba stilled. "Why?" the blonde questioned.

"Curiosity, I guess."

A small smile spread across Naruto's features and stretched the scars. "Do I need to say that overly clichéd line?"

"I'll give you the same answer you gave me."

A chuckle bubbled from his lips before his face sobered. "As for the scars…I got into it with a bad crowd. That's the most I'm telling you."

Sasuke had heard of the bad crowds, the gangs. "How long ago?"

Naruto had to think about that. "Around ten, eleven years."

Naruto would have had to be about twelve then. What people would do _that_ to a twelve year old?

"My dad, he was a surgeon, he said Naruto was lucky. The cuts didn't go into the nerves of his face." Sakura told him. Sasuke understood that immediately. Had the cuts gone into the nerves, the smiling Naruto that he knew wouldn't exist. Smiling wouldn't be possible for the blonde. The ball of exuberance and sunshine sitting across from him would never have been.

* * * *

"Iruka-sensei, can I move out of the trunk now?" The car was nearly empty, save for Sasuke in the passenger seat.

"Go ahead, Naruto." Iruka said at the red light. Naruto clambered over the seats to sit right behind Sasuke. He rested his head against Sasuke's seat back, right beside the headrest.

"Ne, Sasuke, where do you live anyways?"

"1428 East Kingdom St."  
"That's far, on the other side of campus." Naruto said and Sasuke could feel the warm breath on his cheek. Sasuke shifted so that he was leaning partially on the door.

"_The walls start breathin', my mind's unweavin'…Maybe it's best you leave me alone. A weight is lifted on this evening. I give the final blow. When darkness stands to light, it ends tonight, it ends tonight." _Naruto sang quietly.

"What song is that?" Sasuke had to ask. Naruto knew more songs than Itachi knew books.

The bluer than blue eyes looked at him. "It Ends Tonight by All American Rejects/."

"How'd you end up singing that one? I haven't heard of it at all."

"That's not saying much, teme. And it was on the radio two days ago."

"You remember the songs that came on the radio two days ago?"

"Well, not all of them. That one just stood out for some reason. And I remember the time too. Ten twenty two in the morning."

"You remember random things, don't you?"

Naruto shrugged. "Everyone does it."

Sasuke actually couldn't remember that ever happening to him, but then, he tended not to notice such small things. The view outside the window steadily began becoming more familiar as they entered Sasuke's neighborhood. There wasn't really an actual dividing gate or entryway that stated that Sasuke's neighborhood was part of the higher middle class, but it was obvious simply from the state of the buildings and streets. Everything was cleaner, more stark and of lighter colors.

Naruto whistled lowly. "Damn, Sasuke. Nice neighborhood."

Sasuke avoided the clear blue gaze. "…Not really."

"Here we are." Iruka announced. Naruto leaned forward so he could see out the window and look at the house properly. It was a proper house, not an apartment, with a pale tan paint and dark brown trim. On the door was the Uchiha family sign, one that Naruto had noticed was stitched onto the collar of Sasuke's shirts. The lawn was neatly mowed green grass and a person was walking towards the door, dark hair being whipped about by the strong winds of the day.

"Isn't that your brother?"

Sasuke unbuckled his seatbelt and opened the car door. "Yeah, it is."

Itachi looked up as he heard the door close. The act looked very instinctual and--dare Naruto even consider it?—a little jumpy. Like he was waiting for something to jump him from the shadows.

Sasuke noticed the difference in his brother almost immediately. "What's wrong?"

Sasuke wondered if he was imagining the slight relief in his brother's eyes. "You're alright." Itachi said. "And nothing's wrong. Where've you been in any case?"

Sasuke almost/sort of winced, something that he would've never done if it had been his parents who had asked the question. But he simply said, "Out with some friends."

Naruto waved cheerily as he climbed out of the vehicle. The smile on his lips didn't entirely reach his baby blue eyes. "Relax. He's in no danger with me." Naruto slung an arm around Sasuke's shoulders. "Well, nothing deadly. He did get knocked pretty hard in the head with a volleyball today."

Itachi snorted and some of his tension leaked away. "You actually let him play a sport?" He opened his mouth to say more, but Sasuke moved out from underneath Naruto's arm and tried to push his brother inside the house. All people present knew that, if Itachi wanted to, he could have easily dug in his heels and Sasuke wouldn't have been able to make him budge. But perhaps Itachi wanted the normalcy of something as mundane as his little brother.

* * * *

Itachi smirked back at Sasuke. "Something embarrassing you, little brother?"

Sasuke's eyes narrowed into a glare. "Don't start."

"So long as you won't." Itachi knew his brother all too well. Sasuke's next question would have been something along the lines of 'what's got you so spooked?' Sasuke scowled, but said nothing. Anything that spooked Itachi couldn't be good. But the younger knew he wouldn't be able to get any information from the elder tonight.

"Mom and dad?"

"I told them you were staying over at a fellow student's house to help them study for midterms." That was how it had always been between the two. They always covered for each other when the other went out.

Itachi shrugged his light jacket off and left it on the back of the couch before going into the kitchen and making two bowls of Cap'n Crunch. Cap'n Crunch was both of the brother's favorite midnight snack. It might not be midnight, but Itachi knew that the both of them would be up for a little while.

"So what's this I hear about volleyball?" Itachi asked as Sasuke handed him the jug of milk.

"Is it so hard to believe I played?" At the look on the elder sibling's face, Sasuke added, "Alright, so it is. But I wasn't that bad."

"You mean other than getting whacked in the head?"

Sasuke shrugged, taking his bowl and leaning against the counter. "It's a hazard."

Itachi hid a smile. "But you're a naturally attentive person. I can't imagine what—or rather who—was able to distract you so much."

"Nobody! Or…nothing!" Sasuke said defensively around a mouth of cereal.

"A certain baker, perhaps? A baker who's caused you to feel so oddly you're reduced to reading a romance novel that Konan lent me to try and figure out said feelings?"

Sasuke snarled at him. "None of your business. And stop plotting with her anyways."

"Do I look like the sort of man to plot something?"

Sasuke sent him a look. "You are the epitome of a plotter."

Itachi laughed softly. "Well, can't deny that." The laughter faded. "What exactly are you planning on doing about the aforementioned baker?"

"Nothing, I suppose."

"Because you're not sure if he swings that way?"

Sasuke didn't reply because Itachi knew that he could always read his little brother.

Itachi sighed and shook his head. "You are a fool sometimes, little brother. Especially now. If you can't see it…"

Sasuke blinked at him. "See what?" Itachi placed his empty bowl in the sink and began walking away. "Dammit, Itachi, see what?"

Itachi, being the infuriating pain in the ass that he was, simply smirked over his shoulder. "'Night, little brother." He said before shutting the door. And, because he knew Sasuke would try to follow him and demand answers, he leaned his back against the door.

_Three…two…one_

The door shook with the pounding of Sasuke's fist. "Itachi, you smug bastard. Tell me!"

"Mmm…no."

Sasuke shoved against the door with his shoulder and Itachi pressed his full weight back on the door. "Nice try, Sasuke."

The younger brother snarled at the door. "I'll get it out of you eventually, you know that."

"Actually, Sasuke, I'm hoping that you'll figure it out on your own." There was only quiet breathing on the other side of the door for a few moments before Sasuke's padding footsteps retreated from the door. Itachi hadn't expected a response. Emotionally idiotic as his little brother was, he would need some time to figure it out.

* * * *

Naruto was a little surprised to hear a knock on his door the next morning, about a half hour before he opened up downstairs for business. The odd thing was that it wasn't the café door, but the door to his flat above the café. Swinging his legs out of bed, he walked to the door, having to stand on his toes to see out of the peephole*. A familiar pinkette stood outside, rocking on her heels. Naruto frowned, recognizing the nervous gesture.

"What's wrong?" Naruto asked when he opened the door. "It's your day off."

Sakura held up a folded piece of paper. Naruto took it, stepping side so she could come in and so he could close the door. Naruto leaned back on the door as he unfolded the paper. The note was typed in standard print.

"Did you read this?" Naruto forced the words out past the lump in his throat.

Sakura shook her head. "I started to, but then I saw your name on the top, so I figured I'd better get it to you."

Relief filled him. One less possible victim. But the relief quickly faded and he crumpled the note and stuffed it into the pocket of his sweatpants. "Tell Shika not to come in today. Café's closed."

"And where're you going?" Sakura crossed her arms across her chest with an expectant look. Naruto rarely closed the café and never without reason.

Naruto took a hold of her shoulders, kissed her on the forehead and said, "Just…trust me. Please."

* * * *

Sasuke had been about to eat his apple/breakfast when the pounding on the door started. He sighed and set the apple down. Whoever it was was lucky that it was Sasuke answering the door and not his father.

"Naruto?" He made the blonde's name into a question as he pulled open the door. The baker was dressed in faded, dark green sweatpants and had apparently deemed whatever it was he was here for, important enough to not bother getting a shirt. His tattoos shimmered in the morning sunlight.

A quick smile flashed across his lips. "Hey Sasuke. Sorry for being here so early, but can I talk to your brother?"

"Itachi?"

"Mm."

"Uh, sure." Sasuke turned and called towards the living room, where Itachi was curled up, reading. "Itachi! Door!"

It took the elder brother a moment, but he walked to the door. Pulling the door open a little wider so that both brothers could fit in the doorway, Itachi didn't seem surprised at seeing the blonde. "Naruto."

"You're a moron, Itachi." Naruto said flatly, although there was a powerful undercurrent of anger. "What in the seven hells did you do to get involved with Pein's gang?"  
Sasuke looked from Itachi to Naruto. "What're you talking about?"

Naruto dug out the note from his pocket and held it up, the paper falling open so that the brothers could read it.

**Uzumaki,**

**Your presence is required at the docks on this date of November 4th at one hour before sunset. **

**-Pein**

"Am I supposed to understand this?" Itachi's face was perfectly blank, smooth; like a marble statue.

"Don't insult my intelligence please, Itachi. You were twitchy last night when we dropped Sasuke off. Last night, Pein had a…meeting, of sorts. You're not a person to be twitchy, Itachi."

"And you figured out all this on your own, did you?"

Naruto crossed his arms. "It doesn't take a _genius_ to figure it out. And you never answered my question. How'd you get involved with them?"

"I never once said I was involved with them."

Naruto's eyes narrowed and, moving faster than either brother thought he could, he gripped Itachi's upper arm, pushing up the sleeve of his T-shirt. There, high on his left shoulder, was across with wings. Words inked in spidery handwriting circling around the cross read _Vi Veri Veniversum Vivus Vici;_ through the power of truth, I, while living, have conquered the universe. Sasuke wasn't surprised by this; he'd seen the tattoo hundreds of times in the few years since Itachi had gotten it.

"You got this to cover up the scars, didn't you?"

Sasuke frowned and looked at him. "What scars?"

Naruto nodded at the tattoo. "Look closely and you'll be able to see it. It's harder to see with the pale skin."

And it was true, there were three, deliberate white scars in a ring extending from just inside the cross to just brushing the Latin words. The more Sasuke looked, the clearer the ragged edges of the scars, like it had been carved with something not generally supposed to be used for cutting.

"Does everyone in the gang get some scars?" Sasuke finally asked. He couldn't comment on his brother's behavior if he didn't know the whole story, after all.

Both Itachi and Naruto nodded, the blonde releasing the other's arm. Sasuke's eyes traveled to the whisker scars on Naruto's cheeks.

_I got into it with a bad crowd._

Naruto seemed to read his thought and shook his head. "That's not where they're from. My scars are the same as Itachi's. Almost everyone in the gang has a tattoo on their left shoulder to hide the scars."

The flaming Ace of Spades. "How many bad crowds did you get into?"

"Just the one."

'_So where did the other scars come from?' _Sasuke didn't ask. He doubted Naruto would tell him.

"It doesn't matter how I got involved. It's done with. I'm stuck with them."  
Naruto snorted. "BS. I left. That means you could too." Naruto turned and began walking away, hands shoved in his pockets. When he was at the end of the driveway, he turned and looked straight at the brothers. "Or is it that you're too afraid what will happen?"

The brothers stood in the doorway for what felt like hours, though in reality was only a few minutes at the most. Enough time for Naruto to become little more than a speck down the street. Sasuke looked up at his brother.

"You're going to go to that thing tonight, I take it?"

Itachi met his brother's eyes. "I don't have a choice."


	7. Knives and Pretty Faces

**Disclaimer:** Don't own anything!

**Author's Note: **I bought Full Metal Alchemist on DVD! It seems like forever since I've seen it. But Best Buy didn't have Rurouni Kenshin for sale though, or I would have bought that instead.

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"_The buddy system is essential to your survival; it gives the enemy someone else to shoot at."-Anonymous_

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The shadows seemed to hang heavily over the streets, clinging to every nook and cranny. Even with the powerful sunlight that made the streets that were in full sunlight glow orange, the shadows were still there. Creeping. Waiting.

But that was nothing new to Naruto. He liked this time of day. A blending of the light and dark, a time when boundaries came down. He had his hands in his pockets and he kept his head down. This part of the neighborhood was Pein's territory, thought the general populace had no idea who he was. Naruto wore all black tonight, something customary for these "gatherings", though he felt odd in such dark colors.

Three shadows came from and alley and Naruto tensed, looking up through his bangs. He recognized one out of three. Bad odds no matter how he sliced it. Very pale, white blonde hair was slicked back so that light grey eyes seemed sharper. He was dressed in all black as well, with a T-shirt that seemed a bit tight on his frame and black leather pants. A grin twisted the man's lips.

"Well now, look who decided to show up."

"Nice to see you too, Hidan." Naruto greeted, his eyes flicking to the two flanking Hidan. "Who're the new recruits?"  
The one on Naruto's left stepped up, head high. "We're not new recruits. We've been here for almost a year. Unlike you, who nobody's seen. Who is this guy, Hidan?"

"Why don't you look up, Uzumaki? Show us your pretty face?"

Naruto complied, mostly because it was a harmless request. As the few rays of sunlight that reached this street touched his scars, the two boys frowned.

Hidan noticed that the two didn't seem to understand. They must have been the only two who didn't recognize Hidan's handiwork. The pale man moved forward and Naruto forced himself to hold his ground. But if Hidan came within arm's distance, Naruto wouldn't be holding still. Hidan gestured at Naruto. "He, my friends" Naruto bit his tongue at the label. If those two couldn't tell Hidan was lying… "Is a brother of ours, I suppose you could say." The gunmetal eyes locked onto Naruto's. "But he's what you'd call a black sheep. He's the only one of us to ever leave the gang in one piece."

Naruto saw one of Hidan's hands going for something in his pocket. "Don't start anything, Hidan. I got a letter from Pein telling me to come, so here I am."

"Why?"

Naruto lifted a shoulder in a shrug. "Dunno."

A smirk upturned Hidan's lips as his eyes traveled to the scars. "Tonight should be fun. Maybe I'll get to cut someone up again."

* * * *

Pein was a lanky man, but lean muscles were all along his arms and torso. Brilliantly orange windswept hair framed a pale face with multiple piercings. Coppery hazel eyes watched anything and everything. He wore a crimson shirt that looked painted on beneath a black jacket with black jeans.

The instant those eyes focused on Naruto, tension sang in the air. "Uzumaki."  
"Pein."

"You're late."  
Naruto usually had a smartass remark about how everyone else was simply early, but this wasn't a good time to be a smartass. "So sorry that I live on the other side of town. And you told me the docks. That was a big detour."

"You found the signs easily enough."

Naruto quirked an eyebrow, leaning his weight on his right leg. "Not exactly difficult." It hadn't been. Not for him anyway. For people who knew what to look for, the signs were glaringly obvious.

"Ne, Pein, sorry we were late. The kid's hard to find."

Both Pein's and Naruto's eyes flicked to the speaker. Blonde hair was braided back save for a section of it falling across the left half of an effeminate face. The one visible eye was crystalline blue and sparkling with some unknown joke. Behind him was Itachi, black jeans unintentionally low on his hips and a black button down shirt with the first few buttons undone.

"Uzumaki seemed to find him easy enough, Deidara." Hidan commented.

Deidara scowled. "Shut it, Hidan. He's a rich kid. They're harder to get down into these parts."  
"You mean like you used to be?"

Deidara's face instantly darkened with a terrible anger. Naruto had heard of Deidara's background; how he'd grown up in a nice city in the mountains, where there was no ghetto, no gangs. A rare city, that. But his parents had died in a terrorist bombing, leaving Deidara to wander. And wander he did, until he came to this quiet little city with more beneath the surface than could possibly be healthy.

Naruto met Itachi's eyes over Deidara's shoulder. Itachi didn't seem particularly concerned with what was going on, but rather in the surrounding streets. It was a foolish thought, no policeman would ever come this deep into the winding streets and alleys, but then he remembered that Itachi wouldn't be concerned about that. He'd be able to come up with an excuse if that happened. He was looking for his brother, Naruto realized. And of course, Sasuke would be bullheaded enough to follow Itachi to get some answers.

"We're all here, Pein. Save for Madara, but since when can we depend on him to be on time for anything? Why did you call us all here, Pein?" A slender redhead that Naruto recognized as Sasori leaned back against a wall, an unlit cigarette between his lips. He looked a little older than most of them, thought none of them knew his actual age.

Naruto had never had a problem with Sasori. He didn't like the man, but there was no hatred between them. They'd even backed each other up in some fights back in the day. These days, they were civil with each other at best.

Pein spared Sasori a glance before looking back at everyone assembled. Altogether, there were maybe a good twenty people gathered. And Naruto was feeling just a little twitchy with all the hostile glares focused on him and Itachi.

Pein stood a little taller, a little straighter, and Naruto could see the man he would have been had something in his past had been different. Pein wasn't all bad, he knew. He believed in some form of honor and didn't like to stab people in the back, metaphorically or otherwise.

"I gathered you all here so we could discuss the terms of our" Pein looked at Itachi. "Arrangement."

Naruto raised a hand, schooling his face so that he looked like a middle school student waiting to be called on by the teacher. He wasn't stupid enough to make smart-ass comments, but smart-ass gestures were an entirely different story. Pein caught the gesture and narrowed his eyes a bit, but nodded in permission.

"So why call me here? I don't have anything to do with you anymore, remember?"

Before Pein could answer, Hidan said, "That curiosity's a dangerous thing. Might get you hurt one day."

Naruto and Pein simultaneously glared at him, though it was Naruto who said, "Too late." The blonde turned back to Pein. "So?"

"The only reason you're alive right now is because you fell unconscious during the beating. You understand this, correct?" Naruto was fully aware of that fact. Pein's honor thing about not being able to hit someone who couldn't fight back had saved him. "I can no longer have you alive. You cause difficulties within our very own infrastructure and I can't have the possibility of another gang or the police finding out about us."

Naruto gave him an incredulous look. "So you wait, what, eleven years to actually kill me?"

"Do you have anything to live for? You do not go to school, you have no future and all of your belongings are in one place—the café. I think I'm doing you a favor."

"You always think you're doing people a favor."

"I usually am."

"Not me. I like where I am and I like living, thank you very much."

"Perhaps some incentive?" Someone seemed to appear from the shadows, stocky and strong, with a powerful grip on a familiar someone's arm.

"Madara." Naruto nodded at the man. He'd never liked him, though to be honest; Madara had actually done very little to him. Cerulean eyes looked to the hostage and found an angry Sasuke glaring, though what he was glaring at, Naruto did not know.

"I understand you know this kid, Uzumaki."

It took some effort, but Naruto schooled his face into a blank expression. "You misunderstand, then. I don't know him."

"We've information that says that he's been in your café."

"Lots of people go into my café everyday. I don't know them all."  
"So you're telling us you don't know Itachi's little brother?" Madara seemed to want a clarification and Sasuke continued to struggle within the man's grip.

Naruto pulled a surprised face and looked at the elder brother. "You never told me you had a little brother, Itachi."

Itachi shrugged. "It never came up."

"You are both terrible liars." Madara told them. "And even if you're not lying, Uzumaki, the kid can serve as some incentive for Itachi. Because even he can't pretend to not care about his own younger brother."

"You have nothing to threaten him with on your person." Itachi told him.

"Do I need an object? I could break his neck right now."

"But you won't. You need him for incentive."

"He's right." Pein agreed. "Now, as for our deal, Itachi…the arrangement is coming near its end. In, what a year?"

Itachi nodded and Naruto frowned mentally. What was the significance of a year?

"We appreciate the payment that you've been giving us, but in case you're thinking of leaving the gang once the arrangements done…Hidan?"

The pale man smirked and held up his right hand, the knife blade dancing between his knuckles.

"He's the one that generally takes care of those kinds of situations. Has Uzumaki told you about his experience?"

Itachi's eyes flicked to meet the cerulean ones. "No, he hasn't."  
"I'm not surprised, I suppose. He can't be proud of that experience."

"To the contrary, Pein." Naruto's lips twisted into something that wasn't quite a smile, but there wasn't anything else to call it. "It's one of the prouder experiences of my life."

"And yet you speak to no one of it."

"It's on a need to know basis and people don't need to know."

"Can I tell 'em?" Hidan asked. The twist of his lips wasn't a smile, but there really wasn't much else to call it.

"Make it quick."  
Hidan moved towards Itachi, but still keeping relatively close to Naruto. If there was one thing Hidan knew how to do well, it was how to make the tension in a certain area sing. "D'ya see those scars on Uzumaki's face, Uchiha? I suppose you do, since you've seen him more than once." Hidan held up the knife, the blade balanced between two fingers. "They were made by this very knife. He tried to get out of the gang, you see, after his deal with us was expired. We couldn't have that. He could go to the police, after all. So what we did to get the promise from 'im not to go to the police is that we had to rough him up a bit."  
"It wasn't necessary, Hidan. If you'd let me leave peacefully, I never would've gone to them in the first place." Naruto told him.

The pale gray eyes slid to Naruto. "That's what you say, Uzumaki, but you're a sneaky guy when you want to be."

Naruto bristled. "I keep my word."

"Of that we have no doubt. But there's always loopholes."

"And do I look for loopholes? I'm not a guy who goes into deep thought about these things. I would've left it at that!"

"Of course you would have." There was a hint of sarcasm to Hidan's voice.

* * * *

Sasuke watched the exchange between his brother, the baker and the one with the knife. This was a Naruto he'd never seen. Granted, he hadn't known the man that long, but this was a different person altogether. Confident as always, but there was a tension to him that had never been there, a guardedness.

Sasuke could easily call to mind the six scars that marred Naruto's tanned cheeks. They were a little more than half an inch apart, thin and dark against his skin. But they weren't the same scars that they had been even ten minutes ago, because now he knew where they came from and why. And the meaning felt heavier because of the circumstances. Oh, the meaning would have still been there had Naruto told him outright, but now there was a certain…density to them. Because some stories are not meant to be told after dark, when the shadows were waiting because it gave the memory substance, as though the event would happen again. But Sasuke still wanted to know what had driven Naruto to become part of Pein's gang in the first place.

Hidan was walking closer to Itachi now. "I do so hope you understand this, Uchiha. Please don't make me do the same thing to your face, because your face is so much prettier than Uzumaki's ever was."

"Prettier face than yours." Sasuke heard Naruto mutter before smiling innocently as Hidan whirled to face him.

"You have something you'd like to tell me, Uzumaki?"

"I have a great deal of things that I'd like to tell you."

Hidan growled. "Don't be a smartass. It's not the best idea, in my opinion."

Naruto told him where he could stuff his opinion and even Sasuke could see that Hidan was getting close to losing it. Hidan had said Naruto was sneaky, but this was downright manipulating.

"Hidan, cool it. You can cut him up later." Madara told him, tightening his grip on Sasuke.

Hidan backed off.

"That's right, Hidan. Heel, boy. Listen to your master." Naruto remarked and Sasuke didn't even see it when Hidan launched himself at the blonde. Naruto backed up frantically, and Sasuke saw a flash of steel and there was a splash of crimson liquid on the concrete. Sasuke looked Naruto up and down, trying to see where he'd had gotten cut, but Sasuke's eye caught something in his hand. A dagger that had been hidden in the long sleeves of his shirt. A dagger whose tip was painted red.

Hidan clutched at his stomach, glaring at the blonde. Naruto stood calmly. "I never said I was unarmed. You should've searched me."

A gunshot exploded through the air and everyone ducked. Madara's hold loosened and Sasuke broke free, running in a crouch towards his brother, where Naruto joined him. They all looked over and saw the glaringly bright lights of police cars and the wailing of sirens split the air.

A man who had a bandage over his right eye was holding a revolver. The eye they could see was deadly serious. "Hands up, everyone."

Chaos took over and everyone was scattering. Naruto grabbed Sasuke's arm. "Let's go!"

"They're the police! Why're we running?"

"It's pretty damn simple! Anyone who's here is a suspect! We _need _to get out of here."

Sasuke let Naruto pull him into a run. Naruto ran like light, able to slip through cracks and shadows. Sasuke wasn't too much taller than him, so he trusted that if Naruto could fit through an opening, so could he. Sasuke felt like a shadow, jumping when Naruto jumped, ducking when he ducked. Naruto knew these streets; Sasuke didn't, so he didn't question it.

Suddenly, Naruto pulled him to the side and let go of his hand to begin climbing up a fire escape. When they reached the top of the building, Naruto helped Sasuke up the rest of the way and they both sat against the wall around the roof. Sasuke was breathing hard. Naruto was only slightly out of breath.

"Why here?" Sasuke was able to ask.

"Because the police don't look up fire escapes. They expect us, in all the panic, to just run. Which is basically what we do. And, from here, we can still hear what's going on."

The baker was right. Sasuke could still hear the sirens, could vaguely make out some voices. "Then what was with all the turns?"

"Losing anyone that might have been on our tail and avoiding dead ends." Naruto took the hem of his shirt and began cleaning the blood off the his dagger.

"How do you know how to fight so well?"

"My godfather taught me."

"I thought he ran the bookstore?"

"He did. But he was a spy way back in the day for the FBI."

"Your family has some damn weird connections."

"Yeah, but they are damn useful connections. Speaking of connections, do you know about anything happening a year from now with your family?"  
Sasuke frowned. "Why?"

"Pein mentioned the deal that Itachi made with him. Something about it ending in a year."

"I graduate next year and take over the company, but that's about all I can think of."

Naruto ran a hand through his hair, frowning in thought before shaking his head. "I'll think about this later. Did you see where Itachi went?"

Sasuke shook his head.

Naruto leaned his head back, absently putting the dagger back in his sleeve. "We can't stay here. The police may not look here right away, but they'll start looking."

"So where to?"

"They know where I live, so that's no good. But we need to go to a place that Itachi knows too because he'll probably end up there too."

"…Does the café have a back door?"

"Of course."  
"Let's go there. He'll know where to go and how to get in. They won't think you're stupid enough to go back to the place where you live and work. They might look, but if we're in the back, they won't see us."

Naruto smiled wearily at him. "You're slowly learning street smarts, teme. Once you finish catching your breath, we'll start walking over there. We gotta make sure we don't look suspicious."

-/-/-/-/

**A/N: **I know this took forever and I'm so sorry about that. I had a major block on this chapter about halfway through and I could only write maybe like half a sentence a day until this morning when the block broke.


	8. Patches of Grief

**Disclaimer:** Don't own anything! The song at the end is Untitled by Simple Plan.

**Author's Note: **I was forced into half a day of shopping yesterday and we came back with nothing but a bowl of Dippin' Dots. And I'm currently hooked on John Mayer's song Slow Dancing in a Burning Room and Dear Jamie…Sincerely Me by HelloGoodbye, so thanks to my best friend Sean for introducing me to those songs.

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_There are things that we don't want to happen but have to accept, things we don't want to know but have to learn, and people we can't live without but have to let go. ~Author Unknown_

-~-~-~

Sasuke had never noticed the small alley beside the café. It barely fit the two of them walking side by side and the back door to café was almost precisely the same color as the dusty, dirty walls. He wouldn't have seen it had Naruto not fished his keys from his pocket and began unlocking the door.

The inside was warm and inviting, despite the lack of windows. Half of it was a storage room and Sasuke could see bags of flour, sugar and other ingredients stacked neatly. A refrigerator whose clear door showed that there were fruits of all kinds stuffed in there was beside the door to what would have been the kitchen to Sasuke's right.

The other half of the room seemed to a kind of living room. A worn couch was shoved up against the wall and several, supposedly, empty crates formed a base for a large plank of wood that Sasuke supposed was supposed to be a coffee table. An area rug was thrown across this half of the room and some blankets were on the couch with a book set on top of them, a bookmark poking out of its pages. A squishy looking rocking armchair was facing towards them. A lamp in-between the armchair and the couch cast some light into the room.

Just to the right of the couch were stairs that led to what Sasuke was assuming was Naruto's apartment. Naruto threw himself on the couch after placing the book on the table. At Sasuke's raised eyebrow, Naruto simply said, "Might as well make yourself comfortable. We got nothing better to do but wait."

Sasuke took the armchair, sinking back into it. A cat slinked by, poisonous green eyes bright in the half-light. It's fur was copper dusted with patches of black and white. The feline leapt up onto the couch, curling up on Naruto's stomach.

"Teme, meet Patches. Yeah, I know, not too creative, but Sakura found her and named her. She won't answer to anything else now."  
"Why keep the cat with all your ingredients?"

A tan hand scratched behind Patches' ears and a low purr vibrated the air. "She keeps the rats away. Also means I don't have to feed her as often."

"Do you let her out at all?"

"Every morning. She comes and goes as she pleases. There's a small window in my bathroom that she usually comes back in through. That's how she always gets in. Or, that's what I'm assuming."

This Naruto, laid-back and at ease was so at odds with the person Sasuke had seen not half an hour ago that he had to wonder if it had all been some odd nightmare. He knew it wasn't, because there was still some lines of crimson on Naruto's wrist where Hidan's blood had run from the knife.

"You couldn't just be the regular, honest baker, could you?"

Naruto arched an eyebrow. "Are you saying I'm dishonest?"

"You don't tell everyone the truth."

"But I don't tell lies either. Truth is a subjective thing, teme."

Sasuke rolled his eyes and picked up the book on the table. It was old and tattered, but still in reasonably good condition. Sasuke had to wonder what dimly lit bookstore Naruto had found it in. The cover read _The Raven and Other Poems by Edgar Allen Poe._ Sasuke had heard of the poet, but he'd never much liked poetry. He thumbed the book open to the bookmarked page.

_In visions of the dark night  
I have dreamed of joy departed —  
But a waking dream of life and light  
Hath left me broken-hearted._

"_Ah! what is not a dream by day  
To him whose eyes are cast  
On things around him with a ray  
Turned back upon the past?_

"_That holy dream — that holy dream,  
While all the world were chiding,  
Hath cheered me as a lovely beam  
A lonely spirit guiding._

"_What though that light, thro' storm and night,  
So trembled from afar—  
What could there be more purely bright  
In Truth's day-star?_

The poem was titled_ A Dream_. "Didn't know you read poetry." Sasuke remarked as he set the book back down.

"I usually don't. But Gaara recommended it."

The image of the quiet redhead from the beach flashed through Sasuke's mind. Something must have shown in his expression or perhaps Naruto was simply learning how to read him because he smiled and said, "Yeah, that Gaara. He reads more than I do. Then again, he's got more time for it. He's an insomniac."

"And here I was just thinking that he liked eye makeup."

Naruto smiled, but didn't say more. Instead, he arched his back in a stretch, bones popping and cracking before he relaxed, one arm pillowing his head. There were a few minutes of easy silence before he saw Naruto tense. Frowning, he listened. Nothing out of the ordinary; cars on the street, the hum of the refrigerator, a radio playing quietly.

"Did you leave the radio on?"

"No. I didn't." Naruto moved Patches off his stomach before standing and moving cautiously across the room. He didn't go straight into the kitchen, but rather walked in a crouch, being careful to go behind anything that could be used for cover.

"Relax, Naruto. It's me."

"…Gaara?"

The redhead was behind the counter, hands up in an 'I'm innocent' gesture. "My uncle called and told me what happened. I figured I'd meet you here."

Naruto sighed. "You had to creep us out like that, though? God, stomp when you walk or something. Come on back. It's too open up here."

Sasuke looked at Gaara. The redhead had baggy cargo pants on and a dark gray jacket zipped almost all the way up. Gaara took a seat on the couch, slouching a little so he could put his feet up on the table, careful to avoid the book. Naruto lay back right beside him, head on Gaara's thigh as if it were the most natural thing in the world. Maybe to him, it was.

"Did you really have to be all creepy with the radio like that?" Naruto's frown was twitching at the edges with a restrained smile.

"You'd have gone mad with the quiet otherwise. I was saving Uchiha from the torture."

Naruto laughed. "Thanks for turning it on anyways. I'm sure Sasuke appreciates the consideration." Naruto grinned at the brunette. "Even if he's too much of a teme to say so."

Sasuke tried to glare at the baker, but Naruto laughed it off. "Why do you always have the radio on anyways?"

Naruto half-shrugged. "Habit by now, I guess. And silence bothers me. Imagine the world with no sound, especially with no music. How boring a place it would be."

Sasuke had never thought about it that way. The Uchiha household was almost always entirely silent, save for Itachi's room or if the TV was on. Maybe it was because he was so accustomed to silence that the thought of a low, constant noise had never occurred to him.

Patches hopped up onto Sasuke's lap and he absentmindedly began to stroke her fur. His mind was still preoccupied with his brother. Was he okay?

"…Naruto?"

The blonde looked towards Sasuke, making a questioning noise.

"Why were you involved in Pein's gang?"

"My godfather was dying. There was a surgery that could've saved him though, but we had no money. Pein found out about it, offered me money for the surgery if I joined…I was desperate. I joined and he did give me the money, but it was too late. My godfather was already too far gone. I stayed with the gang for another few months. I needed the money to live off of. I had to do…horrible things to earn that money, though. I got tired of it, told Pein I was leaving.. Hidan carved me up like a Thanksgiving turkey, or tried. I fought back a bit and lost consciousness about halfway through."

Gaara wouldn't look at Naruto, instead focusing on something in the kitchen. Or maybe he was focusing on nothing at all. Sasuke, on the other hand, looked straight at Naruto. He'd said it with a distance, as though it were something happening to someone else, but there was a shadow of something that Sasuke couldn't read in the sapphire eyes.

A banging on the door startled them all out of their thoughts. Naruto moved for the door. "Who is it?" So civilized of him.

"It's Itachi."

Naruto opened the door, recognizing the elder Uchiha's voice. Itachi looked haggard, face paler than normal and there were tired blotches beneath his eyes. He hadn't gotten any sleep since yesterday morning, since before Naruto had showed up at their doorstep. Sasuke knew that for a fact.

"Itachi, thank God." Naruto stepped aside to let him in, but Itachi never made it through the door.

A gunshot ripped through the air and settled itself in Itachi's back. His body locked in some sort of sick paralysis as the hot pain tore through him, falling to his knees. Pein was directly behind him, a gun pointed steadily at where Itachi's back was.

"So nice of him to lead me right to you guys." Pein aimed the gun right at Naruto. "And it's time I got rid of you. Apologies, Naruto, but you know too much of our workings for me to trust you."

Naruto knew a knife wouldn't help him in this situation and he didn't have a gun on him. Stupid, Uzumaki, stupid! He had a small pistol in a drawer in his bedside table. Why hadn't he thought to grab it?

Another crack of a bullet discharging and Pein was falling, the side of his face painted a terrible red. His body fell limp, like a puppet whose strings had been cut. Narto looked cautiously down the street and saw Sasori putting away the gun.

"…What're you doin' here?" Were the only words that Naruto could manage.

"Pein was being an idiot. He can't read people as well as he thinks he can. " Sasori smirked up at Naruto and pulled out a badge from his pants pocket. "Undercover cop. Been one for twelve years. Sorry it took this long for us to be able to do anything, but there wasn't a whole lot of proof. Pein was smart in the fact that he didn't show anyone but Hidan where he'd been smuggling drugs for all that money he had. And I already called the ambulance. They're on the way."

Naruto remembered Itachi and crouched beside him, a hand on his shoulder. "Hey, Itachi, you gotta hang on for us, alright?"

Itachi didn't respond, but fell against Naruto, too weak to hold himself upright anymore. Naruto lay him down carefully and pressed down on the chest wound, trying to stop the blood flow. Gritted teeth held back an exclamation of pain, but there was no stopping the agonized arching of the spine.

It seemed like forever that they sat there, the minutes stretching on for eternity, but it seemed like mere seconds later that Itachi was lifted from Naruto's arms, cradling Itachi like he was glass before settling him on the stretcher.

The ambulance drove away and they were left standing in a bloody alley with Pein's dead body leaking his life's blood into the gutters.

"Don't worry about the body. I'll call someone to take care of it or I'll take care of it on my own. But, first things first, I'll drive you two down to the hospital. Gaara, you should get home."

Gaara nodded at his uncle and paused to squeeze Naruto's shoulder reassuringly before beginning to run home. It wouldn't do to be caught on the streets now. Sasuke and Naruto both piled into Sasori's civilian car and they drove in absolute silence.

* * * *

The hush of the hospital waiting room was only broken by Sasuke's pacing, each footstep sharp. Neither could see the surgical ward as the doctors worked on Itachi, but the tension seeped through the harsh, white walls to settle in the waiting room like a grim fog.

Naruto sat in that too quiet room, hands clasping and unclasping nervously with his forearms on his knees and his head bowed. A woman had come by, her indigo hair mussed and a coat thrown over her pajamas with flip-flops on her feet. She'd introduced herself as Konan and asked what had happened. Naruto found it both very easy and very difficult to speak to her.

She listened without interruption and Naruto continued to speak just to try and distract himself from the terrible silence that he hated. He explained about the gang, about how they'd all run for the one place that they all knew of.

Konan had put a brief, comforting hand on Sasuke's arm. "He'll fight, Sasuke." She'd told him before sitting beside Naruto, and kept her eyes focused on the surgical corridor.

Footsteps other than Sasuke's echoed down the hallway and all three of them immediately stood to meet the woman. She had very dark hair cut short and tired, dark brown eyes that had a solemn look that Naruto was sure that they practiced because every doctor had that look. Her coat was stained with drying blood.

Naruto was almost afraid of hearing whatever she had to say. Not knowing was, in a way, better than knowing because then nothing was confirmed. They could pretend.

"…I'm sorry, Mr. Uchiha. Your brother was hit in a very bad place and the bullet scraped the heart. He…couldn't have lasted very long. I'm terribly sorry for your loss."

Someone began screaming, a scream full of rage, denial, pain.

It wasn't until Naruto and Konan grabbed him and held him back that Sasuke realized that the person who was screaming was himself.

Sasuke broke free of them and could automatically focused on Naruto. Naruto, whose clothes were a slowly darkening black, Itachi's blood sunk into the fabric. The black jeans were darker than they should be and were saturated completely. His entire person was a canvas for the terrible portrait of what had happened.

"It's all your fault!" Naruto flinched as the words were hurled at him, but he did nothing to deny it, did nothing to stop the punch that Sasuke threw at him. Anrto stayed sprawled out on the ground, nose beginning to drip blood and the red showed up too bright on the stark white floors. "You killed my brother!"

Naruto stood slowly, stiffly. "Sasuke-"

Sasuke turned away, not able to look at the honest cornflower blue eyes. "Just go away. I never want to see you again."

Sasuke never saw the pained expression on a scarred face as Naruto nodded and said, "Goodbye, then."

* * * *

Naruto trudged home, not able to come in through the back door. He knew that his jeans were probably leaving streaks of red along the tiled floors, but he couldn't bring himself to care. He felt numb, like there was a layer of cotton between him and the world.

Even through the numbness, he could hear the radio playing quietly.

_I open my eyes  
I try to see but I'm blinded by the white light  
I can't remember how  
I can't remember why  
I'm lying here tonight_

And I cant stand the pain  
And I cant make it go away  
No I cant stand the pain

He went straight for the bathroom, stripping off the bloody clothes as he did. The tiles gleamed in the light and it was too bright for him. Naruto ignored it, twisting the tap open to splash water over his face and carefully dab at his nose, which had stopped bleeding sometime on the way home.

_E__verybody's screaming  
I try to make a sound but no one hears me  
I'm slipping off the edge  
I'm hanging by a thread  
I wanna start this over again_

His reflection was a blur of red and scars. His entire life story.

Naruto was surprised to see shiny, bloodshot eyes. He hadn't been aware that he'd cried.

_So I try to hold onto a time when nothing mattered  
And I can't explain what happened  
And I cant erase the things that I've done  
No I can't_

He tossed the stained clothes into the trash bin, as though if he shoved them out of sight, then he could forget what had happened. He started the shower with a flick of his wrist and stood under the spray until the water ran cold. His hands still looked like he'd been finger-painting with red paint.

He scrubbed at his skin until it was pink and nearly rubbed raw before starting to wash his hair. His fingers dug into his scalp painfully and as he leaned his head back to rinse, he felt a dragging tiredness, like he'd lived a thousand years and fought a hundred thousand wars.

_I made my mistakes  
I've got no where to run  
The night goes on  
As I'm fading away  
I'm sick of this life  
I just wanna scream  
How could this happen to me?_

Naruto dried himself off, not bothering to put on clothes as he collapsed onto the bed. As he hovered on the edge of consciousness, he felt a warm weight settle on his stomach. Patches. The tension didn't ease form his shoulders, but it felt good to know that somebody out there didn't hate him.

-/-/-/-/-/-/

**A/N:** I killed Itachi again…God I feel terrible. I've been reading and writing angsty stuff all morning.


	9. Miserable at Best

**Disclaimer:** Don't own anything! The songs are Saying Goodbye by Sugarcult and Miserable at Best by MayDay Parade.

**Author's Note: **Next to last chapter, or almost there at the very least. I figure I owe you guys this many quick updates after making you guys wait so long. And it helps that my block is gone. I'm going to thank my mother's wonderful cooking for the block break since I was eating an empanada and a plate of spaghetti when it broke.

-~-~-~-~-

"_The look in your eyes heals a part of my heart, ma cherie, and wounds another."_

"_Love is such a bitch."-Asher and Anita __**(Narcissus in Chains)**_

-~-~-~-~-

Mikoto was concerned over her youngest son…her only remaining son. She and Fugaku had rushed to the hospital at the news, but all they'd seen was Sasuke leaning his forehead on Itachi's friends' shoulder. They hadn't noted the few drops of blood on the white floor, hadn't seen anything but the doctor with the blood-stained coat.

And Sasuke hadn't said a word all night…morning. It was two AM when they'd gotten to the hospital. Mikoto had asked him quiet questions, 'Are you hurt?' 'Are you hungry?' 'Are you okay?', but all his responses were nonverbal. Nods, shakes of the head and silence. It wasn't as if she wasn't used to Sasuke not speaking, but this silence was deeper, heavier. She knew how close the brothers were. Mikoto was hard-pressed to remember a time when Sasuke wasn't right behind Itachi, a quiet little shadow.

Sasuke stared blankly out the window, not seeing anything. Fugaku was making arrangements with the morgue on the phone, but all Sasuke could see was Itachi's pale, tired face as he'd fallen to his knees, as he'd lay there with Naruto trying to keep the wound from bleeding more.

They stopped at a red light and Sasuke saw a familiar street corner with an equally familiar building, its homey, sweet-smelling interior dark in the early hours of the morning. From here, he could just barely see the tiny lights of a radio. Sasuke watched as a light was turned on, illuminating a small window upstairs that he had only recently learned a cat would usually somehow come back in through.

"Something wrong, Sasuke?"

He shook his head in reply to his mother's question. Even if he had wanted to speak, his voice didn't want to seem to want to work.

The light turned green and the remaining members of the Uchihas drove away from the small café. And the person who lived above it.

* * * *

Light sieved through the curtains and Naruto groaned, burying his face into the pillow. It shouldn't be morning yet. It felt like he'd fallen asleep only forty minutes ago. He realized that he probably had. He'd been tossing through nightmares all night, too exhausted to fight them. A small, furry something pawed gently at his ear and he cracked open an eye to look at Patches. She wanted to be let out.

Grumbling, Naruto swung his legs out of bed. Just because he felt absolutely lethargic and heavy and terrible didn't mean that life didn't go on. Customers were going to want to be served after two days of the café being closed and maybe the work could make him forget about what had happened for just a few hours.

Naruto didn't bother with a shower and dug for boxers, a shirt and a clean pair of jeans. He found a button-up shirt the color of a burnt pumpkin that he slid his arms into. He managed to find some jeans that were a little big on him, but he wore them anyways.

He finger-combed his hair, wincing when he found tangles. Almost mechanically, he walked downstairs, pointedly ignoring the half of the room that they'd all sat in last night and going straight into the kitchen where the radio was still playing softly. He unlocked the front doors and Patches darted out past him.

Tying an apron in a memorized manner, he checked the ovens and began gathering all the ingredients. The bell attached to his front door dinged and he looked over his shoulder. Sakura was standing there, early for the first time in a long time, hair pulled back into a bun.

She ran over to him and looked him up and down. "Are you alright? I heard you were in the hospital!"

He frowned. "I was, but it wasn't for me. Where'd you hear that from?"

"The doctor, Shizune, is a mentor at the Medical Academy. She told me that you'd gotten punched."

Naruto forced a smile on his face. He couldn't show her how much he was hurting today. It wouldn't do her any good to worry. "I was, but I'm fine. Really. It was nothing serious."

"You promise?"  
"…Yeah. I'm not hurt at all. A bloody nose was all I got last night." And a broken heart, but he couldn't tell her that.

Sakura knew he wouldn't break a promise, but… "Alright…I'll believe you. Shika's coming in today."

"Mm." Naruto turned back to the mixture for some apple strudel. His hands were already doughy.

Sakura tied her apron around her neck and watched the man who was practically her brother move distractedly around the kitchen. She put a firm hand on his wrist when he was about to cut the apples. "I'll do it. You look too distracted to do much today."

The bell dinged again as someone else walked through the door. Shikamaru eyed Naruto up and down before saying, "You look like Hell decided to get a monster truck and run you over with it."

"Shika!" Sakura said sternly.

"It's the truth and you know it, Sakura. So does he." Shikamaru's sharp gaze looked directly at Naruto. "Doesn't he?"

"I'm fine, Shika. Just tired."

"Then you should sleep. We can handle the café today."

"I think he tried." They all turned as Gaara stepped through the door and moving to lean on the kitchen counter. "Sleep doesn't always come easily."

"He should at least be resting!" Sakura argued.

"Guys!" It hurt to speak loudly. "I'm fine. Better than fine, actually. But I've got a compromise for you. I'll just work the counter. That's not too much work. And if I fall asleep on the job, then you guys can make me go to bed. Fair?"

Shikamaru and Sakura looked at each other, shrugged and nodded in agreement. Gaara gave a sort of half-shrug. "You can do what you want, Naruto. I just came because I thought there was something you should hear."

Naruto could see from the way that Gaara wasn't looking at the other two that it had to do with last night. He tugged Gaara to the storage/living room and waited.

"My uncle told me what Itachi needed Pein's gang for." Gaara began quietly. "Apparently, there was a head of another gang, Orochimaru, who'd heard that Sasuke was going to take over Uchiha Industries. Orochimaru was planning to kidnap Sasuke for ransom or something and Itachi heard about it. He went to Pein to ask him to take care of Orochimaru. Pein agreed, but…"

"He needed Itachi to join. How long ago did Itachi find out about Orochimaru?"

"Years ago. When they last came here. Back when your godfather's bookstore was still open."

"And he hadn't been able to leave."

Gaara shook his head.

"He went to Pein to protect," Naruto couldn't quite say his name. "His little brother."

"Mm." Gaara's aquamarine eyes searched Naruto's baby blues. "He hurt you."

"Nothing I can't deal with."

"Not physically. I know you're more than capable of taking care of yourself in a fight." Gaara's gaze softened ever so slightly. "What did he do?"

Naruto couldn't lie to his best friend. "…Said he never wanted to see me again."

"…Did you love him?"

The blonde's eyes flicked back up to Gaara's face. The redhead didn't use the word 'love' lightly. "I think I did."

"Yes or no question."  
A faint smile that Naruto didn't have to work at upturned the corners of his lips. "It's easy to see the resemblance between you and Sasori right now."

Gaara didn't reply, still waiting on an answer.

"Fine. Yes, I loved him."

Gaara sat down gingerly on a crate, making sure it would hold his weight before settling down more comfortably. "You're not a cowardly person, so I can't imagine why you didn't tell him."

"I don't know. I guess I thought I had more time to think about it. I never imagined that anything like last night would have happened."

Shikamaru stuck his head around the door. "Naruto, come on. Customers are starting to come."

Naruto nodded and Gaara stood. Naruto wrapped his arms around his friend quickly, but Gaara could tell that Naruto had really needed it. "Thanks for coming to tell me."

Naruto worked the counter in a kind of daze. His mind remembered the people, remembered what was going on in their lives and he smiled and conversed with them. But he wasn't entirely there, his body still on auto-pilot.

It was a little after midday when they flipped the Out to Lunch sign and Sakura brought out some roast beef sandwiches that she'd made and Shikamaru brought out two root beers and a bottle of Nestea for Sakura. Naruto turned the radio a little louder before sitting and munching on his sandwich, not listening to his friends' conversation as he people-watched out the window, occasionally taking a sip of Shikamaru's root beer. He didn't bother opening his own. He wouldn't drink it all today anyway.

_She kisses everyone goodbye  
And waves her middle finger high  
They're never gonna mess with her again  
The drama queen is seventeen  
And sleeping with boys for free  
She's got a reputation of being easy_

Every time they put her down, she makes a fist and the tears roll down  
She packs her bags and plans to run away

A figure walking down the street caught his eye. A person only slightly taller than himself, wearing all black with a duffel bag over one shoulder and a small suitcase in hand. Naruto read their lips as they asked a passerby for instructions to the airport. As he thanked the passerby, onyx eyes caught Naruto's sapphire.

Naruto swallowed hard past the chunk of sandwich, unable to tear his eyes away from Sasuke. He looked harder, colder today then any other time Naruto had ever seen him.

_She's saying goodbye and leaving tonight  
She's wasted all her lonely tear drops  
She's saying goodbye and leaving tonight  
She's used up all her lonely tear drops now_

Sasuke looked away from the blonde. Tendrils of last night's anger were still there even as his heart ached to speak to the bright baker again. But Naruto didn't seem very bright today, tired smudges beneath his expressive eyes.

Still, having gotten his directions, Sasuke turned and walked away. The airport wasn't too far, so he didn't need a taxi. He tried to ignore the powerful blue gaze that was pinning holes in his back.

_Everytime they put her down, she makes a fist and the tears roll down  
She packs her bags and plans to run away  
And everytime she makes a friend, the vicous cycle starts again  
She's never, ever, ever looking back_

She's saying goodbye and leaving tonight  
She's wasted all her lonely tear drops  
She's saying goodbye and leaving tonight  
She's used up all her lonely tear drops now…

Sasuke found the himself hungry for the first time since two days ago, the afternoon before everything went to Hell. He'd just arrived back home in London. Airport food wasn't known for being the best, but he figured it was better than nothing. After picking up his luggage, he trudged towards the Food Court.

Starbucks, perfect. He needed a coffee. He hadn't slept last night and didn't plan to sleep any time soon. Going up to the counter, he ordered an Espresso and waited patiently. On a whim, he saw a banana walnut muffin and ordered that too. It reminded him of that day he'd spent on the island.

Taking a seat with his coffee and muffin, he took up a sometimes amusing hobby. People-watching. Whenever Itachi and he used to get particularly bored in a line or just bored in general, they'd people-watch and Itachi had always made up life stories for them. That one was cheating on her husband of eight years with her best friend; that guy next to him had a brother who was fighting in the war.

The music in the Starbucks changed, the first strains of piano chords murmuring through the air.

_Katie, don't cry, I know  
You're trying your hardest  
And the hardest part is letting go  
Of the nights we shared  
Ocala is calling and you know it's haunting  
But compared to your eyes, nothing shines quite as bright  
And when we look to the sky, its not mine, but I want it so_

Sasuke sipped at his coffee and grimaced. It was black, just how he liked it, but it tasted differently from how Sakura had made it the first time he'd gone into the café. He wasn't sure what was different about it, but this coffee tasted wrong.

_You're all that I hoped I'd find  
In every single way  
And everything I could give  
Is everything you couldn't take  
Cause nothing feels like home, you're a thousand miles away  
And the hardest part of living  
Is just taking breaths to stay_

Because I know I'm good for something  
I just haven't found it yet  
But I need it

Sasuke looked at the muffin, taking a cautious bite. He'd never liked sweets, that had been more Itachi's category, but the muffin wasn't too sweet. But it wasn't good either. He'd tried one of Naruto's pastries. They hadn't all been terribly sweet either, but he'd liked them. They'd had a certain something to them that had automatically made him okay with them.

_So let's not pretend like you're alone tonight  
(I know he's there)  
You're probably hanging out and making eyes  
(while across the room, he stares)  
I bet he gets the nerve to walk the floor  
And ask my girl to dance, and she'll say yes_

_  
Because these words were never easier for me to say  
Or her to second guess  
But I guess  
That I can live without you but  
Without you I'll be miserable at best_

Sasuke wondered what would have happened had That Night never happened. He'd liked Naruto, more than his parents would have over approved of. Itachi had insinuated that something might have happened between him and Naruto, but he'd never elaborated on it.

Not that it would have matter overmuch. Sasuke drank down the rest of his Espresso with a grimace, the hot liquid burning its way down his throat. Naruto had probably been together with Gaara. They were too close to be anything else but boyfriends.

Standing, he tossed the muffin and coffee cup in the trash and took his luggage in hand as he began to head for exit so he could hail a taxi and get home.

_And this will be the first time in a week  
That I'll talk to you  
And I can't speak  
It's been three whole days since I've had sleep  
Because I dream of his lips on your cheek  
And I got the point that I should leave you alone  
But we both know that I'm not that strong  
And I miss the lips that made me fly_

So let's not pretend like you're alone tonight  
(I know he's there)  
You're probably hanging out and making eyes  
(while across the room, he stares)  
I bet he gets the nerve to walk the floor  
And ask my girl to dance, and she'll say yes

Because these words were never easier for me to say  
Or her to second guess  
But I guess  
That I can live without you but  
Without you I'll be miserable  
And I can live without you  
But without you I'll be miserable  
And I can live without you  
Oh, without you I'll be miserable at best


	10. Friends, Freedom and Dinner

**Disclaimer:** Don't own anything!

**Author's Note: **Next to last chapter! Nearly done, I can't believe it. It feels like I've been writing this forever!

And I've no clue what London looks like other than what I've seen in movies. I'd love to go, but I doubt I'll be going anytime soon, so if I get something wrong, forgive me.

-~-~-~-~-

"_Relationships are like glass. Sometimes it's better to leave them broken than try to hurt yourself putting it back together."- Anonymous_

_-~-~-~-~_

It had been almost a year to the day since the man known as Uchiha Itachi had died. That was the only way Naruto could really keep time anymore. The lethargy of the morning after That Night had long since faded. It was nearly graduating time and Naruto had asked Sakura to run down the street to buy some extra ingredients. They'd need it in the next few weeks.

Naruto was wiping down the counters with a rag (it had been Shikamaru's turn to do dishes) when the bell jingled. "We're closed already."  
"I'm not here as a customer."

Naruto looked up, startled. He hadn't heard that voice or seen the person to whom the voice belonged in nearly eleven months, not since Itachi's funeral. Konan had an origami flower pinning her hair up and her T-shirt read simply 'Choose Your Weapon' with a picture of a rock, a piece of paper and scissors.

"Sorry I haven't kept in touch." Naruto said, tossing down the rag.

"Like I really expected you to? …Itachi told me to give you this." A simple envelope with a single red cloud painted on the corner was held out to him.

Naruto took it. "Did you only just remember?"

"No. There was a Post-It on the envelope, reminding me to give it to you on April 23."

"…Thanks for bringing it." Naruto hesitated. "Have you heard anything from…?"

She shook her head. "No, I'm sorry. I can only imagine what he meant to you."

Naruto smiled and it hurt Konan to see the sad edges to it. "Thanks anyways. You didn't have to come all the way down here though. Or were you trying to save on postage?"  
Konan chuckled a bit. "No, actually, although that was a plus. I was hoping I meant con a free pastry from whatever was left from the day? Word in the university is that you're the best baker in town."

Naruto grinned, setting the envelope on the nearest table and going behind the display counter to fish out a guava and cheese roll. "Really now? I'm flattered. All those lovely college ladies talking about me."

Konan had to laugh. Naruto really was a charming man, whether a girl saw him in a romantic light or not. "Oh dear, it seems I've inflated an ego already overinflated."

Naruto mock gasped. "You impugn my honor, lady. I had simply meant to thank you for spreading the word, for how else could this humble baker ever hope to make a living?"

"Oh, you'd manage, I'm sure." Konan took a bite of the roll. "The rumors are true. I love pastries and these are the best ones I've ever had."

Naruto bent in a sweeping bow, grinning up at her. "All in a day's work. Literally."

Konan had to smile and thanked him for the pastry. He'd told her to think nothing of it and he showed her to the door. He really was good company and Konan had a feeling that was part of what had drawn both of the Uchiha brothers towards him in the first place.

Naruto waited until Konan was down the street before sitting at a table and carefully slitting the envelope open. Neat, slanted handwriting met his eyes.

_Naruto, _

_If you're reading this it means that it's been almost a year since we met and since you met my brother. Technically, I hope you're not reading this and I'm actually saying it to you face-to-face. But I digress. I don't know if you or my little brother ever managed to figure things out, but whenever you two do, take care of him for me? _

_The reason I ask this of you is because if you're reading this, then I'm probably dead already. I had a meeting with Pein's gang tonight. You might remember this morning. You woke up half the neighborhood with your banging on our front door. I don't entirely expect to survive the night. Pein's never been too happy with me. _

_I'm sure you understand as well as I do that Sasuke needs somebody to protect him. Well, I say protect, but that's not quite what I mean. Hopefully you understand. But he needs somebody there for him, else he usually gets into a depressed mode. I'm hoping you'll be gracious enough to be that somebody for him. There's only so much a brother can do after all._

_And I have another favor to ask of you. My brother will be graduating in a few days by the time you get this letter. It should be around April 22 or the 23. I was wondering if you might oblige your services in London for his celebratory graduation dinner. I think majority rules on the fact that you do make the best pastries. If you choose to give him the honor of your bakery's service, the number for the house in London is at the bottom of this letter._

_Thank you for at least reading the letter and for all that you've done for Sasuke._

_Sincerely, Uchiha Itachi_

"Didn't Shika get the mail this morning?"

Naruto looked up at Sakura and gave her a lazy grin. "Ne, Sakura. Whaddaya think about going to London in a few days?"

She frowned at him, setting down the grocery bags of sugar, flour and fruits. "That's the biggest graduation week. You really wanna be missing the rest of the week?"

"Well, I don't have all the details yet, but it could be one of our biggest payoffs yet. I'm not totally sure though. I still need to make the call."

"Uh…I'm all for it." She cursed under her breath. "Damn, I can't go. It's in like what, two weeks?"  
"Um, yeah, about."

"I've got this Medical workshop that I'm going to in two days. It lasts a week."  
Naruto winced. "Ouch. I feel sorry for you."

"No, you know I wanna go. It's my first big thing since I got hired at the hospital. It's in the next town over."

"Hope you have fun. And don't be cheating on Neji with the doctors there." Naruto gave her a mock-stern look.

Sakura rolled her eyes. "Like I would. There are no cute doctors in real life anyways. Only on _House_."

"Oh yeah, that Chase guy right? He's got pretty hair."

Sakura burst out laughing. "Yeah, you would think that. But this means I can't go to London with you. You're gonna hafta bring Shika and someone else. Gaara could go. I'm sure he'd love to go to London. Drink some tea while he's there. Find a hot guy to go out with."

"I doubt he'd do that. He's still trying to get the courage to ask Lee out."  
Sakura took a can of Sprite from the fridge. "Still? He's been stuck on this subject for how many years?"  
"Since he started college."

"Why are all the guys I know emotionally retarded?"  
Naruto leaned his chin on his palm. "Come now, is that such a thing to say about your brothers and your fiancé?"

Sakura shot him a warning look and Naruto's lazy grin widened. Ever since she'd run in one morning with the gold band on her finger, she'd mellowed out some.

"Weren't you gonna call those Londoners?"

"Time difference, Sakura. It's still their workday over there. I'll call later tonight to catch 'em. It's more a personal favor than a business call anyways."  
Naruto stood up, folding the letter and putting it in his pocket. Sakura hugged him close before stepping back. "I need to get going," She said, "But you'll tell me how it goes, right?"  
Naruto gave her a reassuring smile. It had gotten easier to fake a smile in the past year "Of course."

* * * *

Gaara set aside the book he'd been reading, careful to mark the page and picked up the phone. "Hello?"  
"Ne, Gaara, how'd you like to come to London with me?"

"Nice to talk to you too, Naruto. What's this about London?" Gaara leaned back on the pillows he'd never slept on.

Naruto explained about the letter. "I just got off the phone with Uchiha Fugaku. I told him about the letter and he says that Itachi had mentioned the café to him, mentioned how good it was. He's willing to pay for the plane fare if we can buy our own ingredients and he said we could stay there, although it sounded like his wife was in the background telling him that last part."

"You know you're going to have to wear decently nice clothes for this?"

Gaara could hear the grin in his best friend's voice. "I know. That's just why I'll have to steal some of your clothes." Naruto hesitated. "You won't be missing any important classes by going, will you?"

The redhead rolled his eyes. Naruto really needed to get out of his habit of stealing both his and Shikamaru's clothes. "When's the flight?"  
The blonde's voice brightened. "Tomorrow at one in the afternoon."

"You're going to work a half day?"

"Yup. Mostly because I think I should spare the world my presence when I'm bored."

"I'll agree with you on that." Gaara stood and went down the hall to ask his sister where she'd put their suitcases. "How long are we staying there?"  
"Only about maybe two days. Three at the most."

Gaara turned back around and instead headed up to Kankuro's room. Opening the door carefully, since he knew that his brother would be asleep, Gaara dug through the closet until he found a duffel bag and stepped back out of the room. "Are we all meeting at the café?"  
"Sounds good. I think I'll call Shika tomorrow, so as not to disturb his beauty sleep."

"He'll appreciate that. And I'm gonna have to let you go so you don't stay up all night."

"I could sleep on the plane." Naruto pointed out.

Gaara snorted quietly in disbelief. Naruto still heard it. "You could, but you won't. You'll be too excited."

A short laugh from the blonde. Sometimes, Gaara could swear that Naruto was healing, but he knew better. "You know me too well, Gaara. Anyways, goodnight."

"'Night."

* * * *

Naruto arched his back in a stretch, wincing slightly as his elbow hit the wall. The inside of a plane was a lot narrower than they looked from the outside. But he couldn't help the bubble of excitement that had settled high in his chest. The first time leaving the small town and it was with two of his closest friends.

Gaara and Shikamaru had both agreed to let him have the window seat, Gaara in the middle and Shikamaru already had his head leaned back, arms crossed and slightly slouched in a position that the other two recognized that meant Shikamaru was going to sleep as soon as possible. Naruto had called him at seven yesterday morning, far too early for Shikamaru when he had no classes and the day off.

As the plane began to rumble and shake beneath their feet, Naruto noted the way that Gaara's hands tightened ever so slightly on the armrests. "Something wrong?"  
"…I'm not entirely comfortable with heights."

The plane was inclining and Naruto winced as he felt pressure in his ears. Gaara dug in his pockets and offered him some gum. Naruto took a stick of gum gratefully, popping it into his mouth and waited until he could hear himself think before asking, "Why'd you come then? Why come if you're scared of heights?"

"I'm not _scared_ of heights. I'm uncomfortable with them."

"I'm not gonna argue with you about the word! Why'd you come if you knew about this?!"

Gaara looked right back at the concerned blue eyes. "Because you asked me to. Besides, I have to help you bake the stuff." As an afterthought, he added, "And so I can make sure you don't entirely destroy my clothes."  
Naruto felt a smile come to his lips unbidden. Gaara had always had that effect on him, even when they'd first met nine years ago. "Fair enough." Naruto ran his hands down the borrowed crimson button up. "Where do you find these shirts? They feel niiiice."

"It's a magical thing that you may have heard of. It's a store called Sears*."

A chuckle bubbled from Naruto's lips. "That means it's within my price range!"

"Yes, but you're not going to go get some because you know you can always steal mine."

Naruto waved a hand airily. "Details!"

Gaara suppressed the urge to roll his eyes and tugged a book out of Shikamaru's folded arms. He'd been the last one reading it while they'd waited for their flight. Cracking it open to his dog-eared page, he said, "Naruto, relax. Try and sleep, if you can. I doubt you'll be getting much sleep while we're in London."  
Naruto raised his eyebrows. "Meaning?"

Gaara looked at him sideways. "Until you patch up with Uchiha, you're gonna be distracted. I know you, Naruto."

"So you somehow expect me to be able to sleep now?"

"It'll be easier now that you haven't seen Uchiha yet." Gaara searched the page for where he left off. "If you think you're going to miss the view, I'll wake you when we've got half an hour left."  
Naruto smiled slightly, exasperated. "Fine, but I'm using you as a pillow."

* * * *

Naruto shouldered his backpack in which he'd managed to stuff his clothes. He'd never owned a suitcase, so he'd had to settle with that. His had been the last of their combined luggage to show up in baggage claim.

"I can't believe it's already five." Naruto remarked.

"I can. It was a long flight." Gaara replied.

"So, do you have directions to this place?" Shikamaru asked.

"No, he said that there'd be someone waiting for us. Someone we'd recognize." Naruto could feel the looks on his friends' faces.

"In the London airport?"

"Yup."

They scanned the crowd, looking through the various combinations of color and clothing. Pale hair, dark hair, though Naruto had seen darker on only two other people; light skin and brown skin and a rainbow collection of eyes. Nothing seemed familiar. Naruto's eyes passed over the crowd once more and his eyes zeroed in on a familiar color: ebony. There were only two people he knew, one now, which had that color hair. But as the person turned, a small sign taped onto a ruler reading Uzumaki Naruto in his left hand, Naruto could see that his features weren't the ones he was looking for.

They were the same elegant base, but the cheekbones weren't quite as high, the lips not quite as full. Oh, he was handsome, without a doubt, but Naruto had seen handsomer. Thin black eyebrows were above thundercloud gray eyes and the ebony hair was tucked behind both ears. His body posture was loose, lazy almost, but there was an undeniable air of grace to him, like a leopard lying still.

"Hello?" Naruto said slightly hesitantly to him.

The man looked at him and Naruto wondered why all Uchihas, for this man undoubtedly was one, were tall. "Uzumaki Naruto?"

"Yeah. These are my friends, Sabaku no Gaara and Nara Shikamaru."

The man smiled and it was like a candle flickered on, gently lighting up his features. "Uchiha Shisui. I'm Sasuke and Itachi's cousin. And I'm sorry to seem in a hurry, but I've got to get to the train station in a little less than half an hour. It seems it's my day to be picking everyone up. My other cousin." He explained. "He's been working in Munich."

Naruto forced himself to ignore the pang at Sasuke's name and the sadness when Itachi's name was said. They followed Shisui out of the airport and into the parking lot. Naruto cocked his head at the dark green Dodge Durango that Shisui opened the trunk to. It didn't seem like the car that a bachelor would have and Shisui did have a bachelor-like air to him.

"It's my wife's." Shisui explained. "My car got crashed."

Naruto passed the luggage to Shisui so he could make it fit into the trunk, just noticing the gold band on his left hand. "The way you say that, it's like somebody else crashed it."

"Sasuke did, about a week ago. He went for a drive and I swear, that boy likes to drive too fast when he's upset about something and he hydroplaned into a tree." Catching the look on Naruto's face, he added hurriedly, "Don't worry, he's fine. A few bruises and an apparently vicious headache, but that's all."

As they all piled into the Durango, Naruto decided to focus on business. It made sitting in the front with someone who looked a little too much like Sasuke more bearable. "How big is this graduation party going to be?"

Shisui ran a hand through his hair, a thoughtful look on his face as he turned a corner. "I'm just making an educated guess here, but…Obito's family…Uncle Asaki and his kids…about a hundred people, give or take."

"A _hundred?_" The number was echoed by the two in the back.

Shisui nodded. "The _whole_ family's coming down for it. Can't wait for the prodigal son's last night of freedom."

Frowning at Shisui's tone of voice and his words, Shikamaru asked, "What do you mean, last night of freedom?"

"Sasuke would take over the family company tomorrow. That's the worst prison there can be."

"You don't like the family business either then?" Like Itachi, was the rest of the question, but Naruto didn't say that.

"No, I don't. I never have. I can't quite explain it, but there's something wrong with the whole thing. It feels wrong. It's why I became a writer." Shisui smiled a little sheepishly and Naruto decided that maybe Sasuke and Itachi weren't the only Uchihas he could stand. "I'm sorry, I'm probably boring you."

"It's fine." Back to business, Uzumaki. "Anything absolutely off the menu?"  
"Knowing my uncle, a big, ostentatious cake saying 'Congratulations!'"

Naruto grinned slyly. "Want me to make it anyways?"

Shisui burst out laughing, switching into another lane because of the slow car in front of them. "I like the way you think, Naruto. And be my guest, if you can keep it hidden from my uncle until the graduation."

"You're underestimating him, Shisui." Both Gaara and Shikamaru piped up. Shikamaru continued, "He's got an uncanny ability for being sneaky when he wants to be."

"Then I've nothing to worry about. This is bound to be the most interesting family event yet."

"With Naruto, things are never dull."  
"Excellent. Just what we needed. My wife and I are always inventing excuses to leave these things early."  
"I can't believe you're related to Sasuke." Shikamaru remarked.

"Neither can the rest of the family." Shisui parked in front of a gray-blue house squeezed in-between two others. "Here we are. Again, I'm sorry." He helped them unload their few bags.  
"And like we said, it's fine. Thanks for the ride. Don't be late on our account."

"Alright. I'm coming by here later anyways. We don't have much space at our place, so the guy I'm picking up now is staying here as well. Space might be a little tight." He warned as he got back in the car, turning the keys. "See you."

Naruto, Shikamaru and Gaara climbed the few steps in front of the house and Gaara rang the doorbell. A minute later, a woman opened the door. She was definitely an Uchiha with the high cheekbones and dark eyes and hair and she had a sweethearts face on top of it. Her cream shirt clung nicely to her frame and her ark blue skirt fell to her knees.

"May I help you?" she asked.

"My name's Uzumaki Naruto. These are my associates, Sabaku no Gaara and Nara Shikamaru. Shisui just dropped us off here. I'm supposed to be baking stuff for a graduation?" Gaara hadn't known that his best friend had a business smile; polite, but fake.

"Oh, you're the baker! Come in, come in! I'm Mikoto, Sasuke's mother."

As they stepped through the door, Naruto noted that, while Uchihas all looked like each other (from his experience at least), Sasuke resembled his mother rather strongly.

"I'll show you to your room." She looked at them apologetically. "I'm afraid we only have one spare room since our cousin is staying here as well. There are two beds though."

"It's fine, ma'am. Really." They followed her up the stairs that were on their right. "We're just honored we can help out with this event at all."

"You're a charmer, aren't you, Naruto?"

"No, ma'am. Just honest."

Gaara stepped on Naruto's flip flop; a warning. He was laying it on a little thick.

Mikoto seemed amused. "Oh really. Here's your room. I'm making dinner now, so I'm afraid I have to leave you. I'll make sure to get you when it's ready."

Naruto tipped an imaginary hat. "Thank you kindly."

She chuckled and went back downstairs and they went into the room. There were two beds on opposite walls, their bedspreads a plain navy blue. The wooden floor didn't creak beneath their feet, something that Shikamaru liked. That creaking noise had always bothered him. No windows, but there was a small dresser between the two beds.

Naruto immediately claimed the left bed, setting his backpack down by the dresser. "Ooh…soft."

Gaara rolled his eyes. "Scoot over." He said, prodding the blonde in the side. Naruto obliged and Gaara stretched out beside him. Shikamaru sat cross-legged on the other bed.

"Out of curiosity, Naruto…" the brunette began, "What's your plan for getting Uchiha back? Or rather, getting him at all. You guys were never actually together."

Naruto raised his head enough to look over Gaara. "How'd you know about that?"

Shikamaru gave him a look. "I'm not an idiot. The way you were acting…it had to be more than Itachi dying."

Naruto didn't say anything right away. Finally he said, "I don't have a plan. I never thought that I'd actually be here. It didn't quite feel real yet. I still keep expecting to wake up back home."  
Shikamaru didn't quite know what to say and neither did Gaara. The three sat in silence for long minutes when a quick knock came at the door and Mikoto poked her head around the door.

"Dinner's ready!"

The three stood with exhausted laziness that people coming from an airport have and followed her down the stairs. The kitchen was across from the stairs and the table didn't have the well-worn feeling to it. Everything was gleaming and clean. The Uchihas might have moved in yesterday for how tidy everything was.

The man that must have been Uchiha Fugaku sat at the head of the table. He wasn't as tall as Shisui, closer to average height, but he had broad shoulders and a stern face. He stood and shook each of their hands, though no pleasant expression showed on his face.

As Naruto scanned the rest of the table, he saw that there were would be three extra seats after he, Mikoto and his friends sat down. He heard footsteps behind him and he turned his head.

As soon as he did, he felt like he'd been punched in the gut.

Sasuke had grown maybe an inch over the past year, his hair still spiked back. But that wasn't the reason for the punched feeling. As hard and cold as Sasuke had been almost an exact year ago when he'd been asking directions, now he seemed harder still. Naruto could read nothing in his eyes, which were twin black mirrors, after the briefest flicker of some emotion.

He greeted them curtly; his voice like ice and Naruto knew that, had his father not been right there, he wouldn't have greeted them at all. And he sat in the farthest seat away from Naruto.

It was halfway through dinner, and Naruto had to say that Mikoto was a marvelous cook, that Shisui and another Uchiha came through the door. The other one had wild spikes and a hurried air, though there were glaringly bright orange goggles resting on his forehead. His jacket had odd patches sown everywhere, some of dragons, some of tigers and one, oddly enough, of a scarecrow.

"Hey guys! Sorry we're late." He said, plopping down into the seat beside Naruto. He smiled and held out a hand. "Uchiha Obito, at your service."

Obito also shook Gaara and Shikamaru's hands and Naruto found himself liking the man's cheerfulness. Shisui took a seat by Sasuke and asked Mikoto to pass her tomato salad. According to both Shisui and Obtio, the tomato salad was to die for. Sasuke, Naruto had noticed, had already had two big helpings of it.

And Naruto really had to give Obito and Shisui some kind of points for trying to keep polite conversation going, despite two stony Uchihas.

"So, Shikamaru, what do you do?" Mikoto decided to try and help the other two with the conversation.

"Uh, I'm a student actually. I'm graduating in the fall. I major in Anthropology."  
"Really? Are you planning to be an anthropologist?"

"A forensic anthropologist, actually."

"That must be an…interesting career path. What about you, Gaara?"  
"I study foreign languages."

"What languages do you know?"

"Russian, Spanish, German and I can read and write Arabic."

"That's quite the repertoire of languages. Is there a reason you're learning so many?"

Gaara gave a kind of shrug and swallowed around a chunk of steak. "I wanted to."

"As good a reason as any." Obito told him.

"What is it you do, Obito? Shisui said you were working in Munich?"

"Well, I live in Munich. I'm a photographer, so technically I can work anywhere and I can't really be late."

"Good thing too." Shisui told him. "You're late for everything else. Your train was late!"

"Not my fault, Shisui! Some idiots decided to pull the emergency brake. It took a while to sweep the broken glass from the beer bottles off the floor."

"Still, I think it's your lateness curse."

Obito glared at him, but it was a teasing glare.

The rest of dinner was a fairly subdued affair and Naruto wondered if it had been Fugaku's stony glare that had the two quieting, shoulders hunching, though Naruto saw the way that their hands clenched just a little tighter on their silverware.

After dinner, Shisui said his goodbyes, giving Obito a one-armed hug and it looked like he wanted to do the same to Sasuke, but the youngest Uchiha was already halfway up the stairs. "I'll see you guys at the graduation. I'll try and stop by for a little bit, but I won't be able to stay."

After bidding each other good nights and Obito showing them where the bathroom was, they all retreated to their respective rooms. Naruto lingered at the door to theirs, because out of the corner of his eye, he had seen Sasuke go into his room.

"Do you want to go after him?" Gaara asked quietly.

"Not tonight. Tomorrow, for sure."'

"If you say so."

-/-/-/-/-/

**Author's Note:** As a warning, I'm probably not going to be able to write for a while after this because of grades, so I won't be updating much, or possibly at all, for about a month, maybe two. It kind of depends on how pissed my mom gets (scarier than a dragon when she's angry, that one).

But I am going to try and finish this story before that.

*I actually did see shirts like that at Sears the other day. They felt absolutely heavenly (as far as shirts go). Unfortunately, I was out of money, else I would've bought some. Damn the need for bathing suits. They're an essential down here.


	11. Insanity, Cake and a Kiss

**Disclaimer:** Don't own anything! The piece of the poem in here, however, is mine, even if it is an old one. If anybody wants to use it, be my guest. Just remember to ask first. The song is Star Crossed by Scary Kids Scaring Kids.

**Author's Note: **Last chapter! I can't believe it! Thanks everyone for sticking with me through this! And I've been watching the Producers nonstop all weekend, so I've got German running through my head and I'm singing I Wanna Be A Producer right now. And I've been playing around with my cell phone half the morning. It's my first one, so I'm trying to figure out all the buttons.

Just got through the second season of Burn Notice. I love that show, but, again, my theory is proven on my favorite people dying. Poor Victor….

And, my last note so I can stop rambling, the graduation party is based on my own family's parties, though considerably toned down. I don't know what kind of music is generally played at things like this, but we always play salsa, so that's what it's gonna be.

-~-~-~-

"_Absence diminishes small loves and increases great ones, as the wind blows out the candle and blows up the bonfire."-Anonymous_

-~-~-~-~

Naruto was pretending to be asleep for no one's sake but his own. If he was actually awake, then he'd have to go downstairs, see _him_ and pretend like nothing was wrong. Pretending to be asleep was much easier.

He could feel his pillow moving steadily up and down beneath his cheek and while others may have questioned it, he didn't. The person was warm, removing the need for a heavy blanket, and their stomach was delightfully squishy. Not fat, no. Never fat, but fat and squishy were not always synonyms.

An amused snort made its way to his ears. "However much you may like my stomach, Naruto, we have to get up soon."

Naruto groaned and cracked his eyes open at Gaara. They'd slept beside each other last night, because of lack of room. Or rather, Naruto had slept. Gaara had stayed awake, probably finishing that book of his. Naruto stayed curled up and simply regarded Gaara from his position.

"Time?" He asked Gaara.

The redhead flicked a glance at the digital clock on the dresser. "Eight thirty-seven."

"How is it that I manage to sleep in over here?"

Gaara knew that eight thirty wasn't really sleeping in for most people, but for Naruto, who was a natural early riser, it most definitely was. "You're not sleeping in. Time difference. It's like five, six in the morning back home."

"Good. Making sure I'm not going mad. I don't have to make myself breakfast, do I?"

"You don't have to, but if you want to, you'll hear no complaints from me. Anything different from Temari's cooking is a good thing."

"She still hasn't learned to cook without experimenting?"

"Nope."

Naruto considered getting up, considered starting his day, but found himself far too comfortable. "Mikoto can cook. She's good at it. Ne, Gaara, did you get any epiphanies last night?"

Epiphanies were what they called Gaara's poems, mostly because neither of them could ever figure out where they came from. They sounded just enough like him to know that they were his, but just barely.

"I have maybe a few lines."

"Lemme see?" Gaara reached for the small notebook on the dresser and handed it to him. Naruto turned onto his back, head still resting on Gaara's stomach and flipped the notebook open to where a pen held the page.

_These memories are dulled_

_Edges fading like a photograph_

_And though it hurts to be reminded of What Was_

_The now must be focused on so that the What Will Be_

_Won't be the same as What Was_

Naruto looked up at his friend. "I'm still wondering where these things come from. I like it though. Not quite depressing and not quite bittersweet, but almost like a what if, kind of thing."

Gaara shrugged. "I don't think we'll ever figure out where these poems come from."

"I think it would change the meaning a bit if we did." Naruto slipped the pen from the job of holding the page and began to doodle on a blank page. "Ne, Gaara…was it just me or was last night, at dinner, a little…suffocating? It wasn't at first, but after Shisui and Obito started teasing each other…"

"It's not just you." Gaara told him.

Both of their heads jerked around to look at Shikamaru, whose face was still buried in his pillow, but was waving one hand lazily. "I'm in agreement." Were the words muffled by a pillow.

"Morning, Shika." Naruto called. He'd learned a while ago not that no morning was good for Shikamaru if he was up before nine, so he didn't usually say 'good morning' to him.

"I need a shower." Shikamaru told them, turning his head so that his words weren't muffled. "It'll wake me up."  
"Then go ahead. You can have first dibs on the shower."

"…Now I just need to get up."

"Lazyass." The other two told him almost immediately. Naruto passed the notebook, now with a page of scribbles, doodles and half done sketches, back to Gaara and forced himself up.

"Fine. I'll take a shower then I'll kick you out of bed so you can take one. Sound fair?"

Shikamaru gave him a thumbs up to show his agreement, already drifting back to sleep. Naruto found a small stack of towels just outside their bedroom door and took one, trying to remember which door was the bathroom.

He was saved from checking each door when Sasuke walked out of one, a loose T-shirt on with some jeans slung low on his hips, furiously drying his hair with a towel. Their eyes met and separated and Sasuke walked right past him, though their shoulder brushed unintentionally and sparks shot up Naruto's arm.

Naruto watched him hang the towel on the stair railing to dry and go downstairs before taking his turn to shower. Stripping, he piled his clothes on the counter so that he wouldn't forget them and turned on the tap. As he stepped under the spray, a shudder went down his spine and he let out a low string of curses.

"Bastard took all the hot water."

* * * *

"Okay, so the graduation's tomorrow. Suggestions?" Naruto asked, a piece of paper torn from Gaara's notebook in front of him. The basic ingredients were already scribbled on there.

It was late morning and they were all seated at the kitchen table. Shikamaru sat across from him, his back to the window. "Some kind of strudel." Was his suggestion.

Apples and cinnamon went on the list.

"Things with guava. And some with chocolate." Gaara offered.

"Chocolate's good."  
"You guys goin' shopping?" Obito came into the kitchen, still a little sleepy-eyed, but his goggles were absent.

"Yup. Why, you need something?"

"Rather, I want to come with you. I think I'll go mad if I'm stuck in here much longer. You guys don't mind, do you?"

"'Course not. And we need somebody who knows the area anyways."

"Then I'm your man. I might not live here anymore, but I know this city's streets as well as I know how I like my coffee. Lots of sugar and a little milk."  
Naruto found the pang that resonated inside him every time he saw Sasuke, or even heard his name, easing around Obito. Obito had a way of putting everyone at ease.

"That everything?" Naruto asked the other two.

"Honey!" Obito exclaimed.

Naruto looked over his shoulder. "Sorry, Obito, but we're not close enough to all me that."

Obito gave him a playful cuff upside the head. "Dream on, blondie. A pastry with honey. And strawberries."

"Kiwis too." Gaara said.

"Berries in general." Shikamaru told him. "And almonds."

Naruto scribbled it all down hurriedly, recipes already whirling through his mind. "And that cake we promised Shisui."  
"He told me about that. I can't wait to see my uncle's face when he sees that cake. I'm glad I brought my camera."

* * * *

Each of them split up once they got to the market. Mikoto didn't really bake, so Gaara would be finding some baking pans and such. Shikamaru's job was to get the sugar and things like that. Obito pointed Naruto to an organic grocery store a little farther down that they were both going to. Obito had no specific job after all. They all promised to meet up as soon as they were down by a bookstore at the end of the street.

Naruto was holding up some pineapples for inspection when Obito asked, "So you were there a year ago?"

Naruto stilled completely for a moment before coming to life again. "…Yeah. Got a bloody nose for it."

"And a broken heart?"

Naruto whirled to face him, surprise writing itself all along his scarred face.

Obito smiled slightly. "Shisui's a writer and I'm a photographer. You learn to look at the little details."

"I've been here less than a day."

"True, but along with your emotions screaming themselves out on your face, you're not the only one who was there a year ago. Sasuke lived with me for a few months, around Christmas. I saw what I needed to see from him. He and Shisui hang out a lot too. Me and Shisui pooled our information and it wasn't hard to piece it together."  
"Is there some reason you're bringing it up now?" Naruto put the pineapple in his cart and kept walking, critically eyeing some yellow apples.

"Itachi emailed me while he was over there. He told me about you, Naruto. Said you were the best baker in town. Possibly the world, although I think he might've been exaggerating a bit there. He said that one of the reasons he thought that was because Sasuke told him that he liked your pastries. Sasuke, who I haven't seen eat a cookie since he was seven.

"He also said that Sasuke was different one night, when he came back with you from a day of hanging out. Said he was more expressive, happier, that he was acting more like the kid that we all remember before Fugaku started on the ridiculous family business stuff. And he said it was all 'cause of you."

Naruto gave him a disbelieving look over his shoulder as he found a few acceptable apples. "How could that be?"

"He ate more last night than he's eaten in the months he was with me. Sasuke doesn't eat when he's upset, likes to go for drives. Had he not wanted to see you, he wouldn't have come downstairs last night."

Naruto forced his hand to keep steady while he put some peaches in his cart as well. "What're you saying, exactly?"

Obito tugged a spike of hair that had fallen in front of his eyes, frustrated. "I dunno, but I'm hoping you came here with some kind of plan. I can't stand seein' Sasuke this way and, forgive me if I'm wrong, you got something about you that says something's missing."  
"No, no you're not wrong. But hell if I know what to do. The last words he said to me were 'I never want to see you again.'"

"The way that Sasuke talks in his sleep, he didn't mean it. Anger and grief do things to people, Naruto."

Naruto looked at Obito closely. The way he'd said that had the weight of experience on it. "Who was it?"

The dark eyes and for the first time, Naruto noticed that they weren't the same color. Close, but one was a very dark blue, like a midnight sky, while the other was the natural black of the Uchihas. "One of my closest friends. Our other friend wanted to be a doctor. She was walking to my house when some guys tried to rape her. She managed to call me and I called my friend to let him know and we were both on our way. She was always a fighter…she tried to fight them. I suppose she caused them enough trouble that they killed her. Me and my friend arrived just a few minutes too late and they were trying to figure out what to do with her body. Well, they had guns and they shot at us, of course. We ran, but they caught up to us. One of them grabbed my friend, took his left eye as a warning. We managed to get to the hospital and he got an eye donor so that he could see again."

"Your eye?"

"…Yeah. I got a prosthetic."

Images flashed by Naruto. A lazy teacher leaning back in his chair, an eye patch over the left eye. A smiling dark eye that was all anyone saw. Naruto when he was younger asking him why he always wore the eye patch and the teacher replying that it had been a gift a long time ago from a friend.

"Was your friend named Hatake Kakashi, by any chance?"

"…Mm. You know him?"

"Yeah. He was my teacher a while back."

"Huh. A teacher. Never would have pegged him to do something like that. We used to joke with him that he should be a spy or something. He could fool anybody into thinking anything back when we were in school."

Naruto found several plastic boxes of strawberries, blackberries, blueberries and every other kind of berries imaginable and but them in his cart as well. "This is all the things on my part of the list. Wanna start heading for the bookstore?"

"Yeah, sure."

* * * *

Naruto was standing at the kitchen counter, considering the ingredients. They'd all bought three times more what they usually bought, but then, there were three times more people. There was a new list underneath their previous one. A list of all their possible choices of which pastries to bake.

"Alright, since about a quarter of all this needs to go into the cake, we can set that aside. Then that leaves…" Naruto continued muttering the figures under his breath. If there was one thing he excelled at, it was conversions and doing math in his head.

"What are we starting with?" Shikamaru asked.

"The turnovers and the rolls. They can be stored the easiest."

Shikamaru nodded and pulled the apron he'd brought with him on. He also followed Naruto's example and put a bandana to keep any loose hairs back. "Let's get started."

Gaara came in about ten minutes in, when they were still preparing the dough and mixing the fillings. "Need my help for anything?"  
"You can take over my job," Naruto told him, "And I can start stuffing it all."

"I need an apron."

Shikamaru and Naruto looked at each, faces with their pale patches of flour, and then said, "Take Mikoto's."

"I forgot to bring you one, sorry."

Gaara took the apron from the hook on the fridge and grimaced. It was a soft pink with yellow flowers sewed in. "I can feel my manliness slowly running away."

Shikamaru laughed. "Just put it on. We need your help if we wanna get this all finished by tomorrow afternoon."  
Gaara did put it on, grimacing a little as he did, before taking over Naruto's mixing of the berries for the fillings of the pastries. "Afternoon? I thought the graduation was at night?"

"It is. But we also need to set up and bake that cake. By the time we finish, it will be night."

"Makes sense."  
They worked diligently for hours, pausing only for dinner, when Mikoto shooed them out of the kitchen and got her apron back. But that didn't mean that they didn't have fun while they worked. Naruto had a habit of randomly throwing a too small berry at his friends' heads with very precise aim, once interrupting into a brief flour war.

But after even Shikamaru had gone upstairs to wash quickly before sleeping and Gaara had followed after Naruto had gently declined the offer for company, Naruto was still working away. Working by the moonlight coming through the window. He doesn't' need to see everything he does. Most of the things he was baking he'd already made dozens of hundreds of times before anyways.

Obito's words from the grocery store kept running through his head and he knew he wouldn't be allowed to sleep very much tonight.

It was a little after midnight when all the people noises of the house quieted completely and all that was left was the hum of the refrigerator. That was when Naruto began to quietly sing a song that he'd heard on the radio during the half day he'd worked the day after he'd gotten Itachi's letter.

"_If the stars say that you couldn't love me,  
Are you telling me that you would listen?  
If the words make their way from your mouth  
don't ask my permission,  
You're always forgiven…"_

Naruto broke off when he heard footsteps on the tile. He turned his head, expecting Gaara, but finding the familiar arrogant prick that had come into his café nearly a year ago and ordered a black coffee.

Sasuke was dressed in a pair of black cotton drawstring pants, a too big T-shirt thrown over his torso. The shirt has a guitar sprouting angelic wings and Naruto has a feeling that the shirt was Itachi's.

"What're you doing up?" Sasuke asked. They were the first words that didn't have ice hanging off of them, though there was a distance in his voice.

"Baking. What's your excuse?"

"I always wake up around now. It's a habit." A habit from nights with Itachi, when they'd sit on the couch, eating their Cap'n Crunch and watching old _Buffy_ and _Monk_ reruns. Sasuke couldn't quite make himself look at Naruto directly, too afraid of seeing anger in the bluer than blue eyes that had haunted him the entire past year. "…Why're you still baking now?"

"Not tired enough to go to sleep. Figured I might as well do something useful." Naruto left the dough he'd been mixing and wiped his floury hands on the apron before checking on the things in the oven.

"Won't it go bad or something by tomorrow? Or," Sasuke checked the time on the microwave. "This afternoon."

"It's why I'm baking them from least spoilable to most spoilable." Naruto smacked Sasuke's curious hand away from a dough mixture with a mixing spoon. "Don't touch it!"

Sasuke had to arch an eyebrow because he really hadn't intended to touch the dough, just to move it so he could get a bowl from the drying rack. But as Naruto looked at him, saw the expressions (as much as Sasuke ever showed, anyways) on the pale face, he found himself laughing. Really, honestly laughing freely for the first time in nearly a year.

Sasuke looked at him, a little bewildered. "What is it?"  
"Just…realizing how much I missed you, teme." The brilliant smile on the scarred cheeks both hurt Sasuke and still spread a warm feeling through him.

They were both silent for a few minutes.

"I'm sorry." Neither realized for a moment that they'd said it at the same time.  
"Why're you sorry?" Sasuke asked. "…I…shouldn't have…said what I said."

"It's fine. The circumstances….weren't the best. And it was partially my fault that your brother's dead." Naruto rubbed his arm nervously. "I can understand if you hate me…"

"I don't hate you."

Naruto continued as if he hadn't heard him. "It's understandable. I mean, you and Itachi were close and stuff. Probably deserved that bloody nose—" Naruto was cut off as a pair of lips pressed quickly against his own. His eyes widened before he relaxed into it.

Sasuke pulled away, though still keeping fairly close. "I. Don't. Hate you." He said again. Naruto felt each breath against his lips and chin.

Naruto studied him. "You're lying. At least a little bit. You might not hate me, but something's wrong."

Sasuke stepped back a few steps and ran a hand through his hair, pacing across the kitchen. "…You're right. Something keeps telling me that I should be angry with you. I don't want to be. And I thought you were with Gaara."

Sasuke could see the understanding on the baker's face and in his eyes at first, but when he said the last sentence, there was confusion that turned into amusement.

"You thought me and Gaara were together?" Naruto had to support himself with the counter, he was laughing so hard.

"So glad someone finds this funny."

"Jealousy is never an emotion you should associate with Gaara. We've known each other for nine years. He's like my brother."

"You two were rather comfortable with each other."

Naruto looked at him oddly. "It's part of being friends."

When Sasuke didn't look convinced, Naruto chuckled and said, "The next vacation you get, you'd better come home and you can spend more time with the others. It seems like you need it."

"I'm probably not going to get a vacation in a long while." Sasuke told him.

"…Can I ask you something?"  
Sasuke nodded.

"Do you really want to run the family business or are you doing this just because your father told you to?"  
"I don't really have a choice. Someone needs to take it over and since Itachi…"

"You have so many family members though. Trust me," Naruto smiled wryly and jerked his head at the abundance of pastries. "I know."

"It's…hard to explain."

"Well, if you have to do it, why not get a better reason to?"

Sasuke looked at him oddly and Naruto took a deep breath before explaining all that Gaara had told about why Itachi had gone to Pein in the first place.

* * * *

Gaara had been going downstairs to tell Naruto to go to bed, but he paused a few steps from the landing and looked into the kitchen. He couldn't hear the words that were being said, but the fact that Sasuke and Naruto were simply talking was enough. He quietly went back upstairs, thinking he might just finish that poem.

* * * *

A hand was shaking him roughly and Naruto opened his eyes blearily. The person was a blur of black and orange. He closed his eyes again. "…'Bito?"  
"Yup. Come on, wake up, blondie. It's almost two."

Naruto's eyes flew back open. "Two?!"

Obito stepped back. "Mmhmm. Gaara told us to let you sleep, but we're gonna be heading out to set up the party and we need everybody."  
Naruto rolled onto his back. "I have to get up now?"

"Yup. No five more minutes for you. You might be able to sleep in the van."

"Van?"

"Yup. We borrowed my mom's van so we can fit all the food. Come on, shower, get dressed. We're leaving in twenty minutes."

Naruto forced himself to sit up and trudged outside to find a towel. "The house is pretty quiet."  
"Yeah, my uncle, aunt and Sasuke went to the actual graduation after breakfast. It'll take them a while to get done."

"Alright, alright. Give me ten minutes and I'll be downstairs."

"If you fall asleep in the shower, I'll send Gaara in after you." Obito warned before going downstairs.

As promised, ten minutes later, Naruto was in the kitchen, tugging a T-shirt over his head. He'd change into more formal clothes later. He grabbed a tray covered with plastic wrap and followed Shikamaru out to the van.

"Heard you patched things up with Sasuke." Shikamaru said as they headed back into the house.

"Yeah, mostly."

"Mostly?" A smile was tugging at Shikamaru's lips.

"What's the smile for?"

"Hm? Nothin'. Just something Gaara told me."

Naruto leveled a slight glare at his best friend who held up his hands in an innocent gesture before grabbing the next tray. Naruto couldn't help but smile at that. He'd told Gaara some of it and apparently he'd shared it with Shikamaru. Not that Naruto was angry, but it was the principle of the thing.

"I've got the last tray." Obito told them. They'd been moving some trays before he went to wake Naruto. "Are we going to bake the cake there?"

Naruto nodded a little distractedly. "Yeah, yeah. What have we got left in terms of ingredients?"

"A few pounds of flour, a few jars of leftover jam a box of blackberries, half a box of strawberries, some kiwis, a few slices of lemon, two peaches and a partridge in a pear tree." Shikamaru told him.

Naruto grinned at him. "I can work with that."

* * * *

The hall that they were doing the graduation celebration was what Naruto was willing to be was a perfect square with a high ceiling. There was outdoor seating, but Naruto doubted anyone would use it. It was set to rain tonight. The floors tiles were decorated and cream colored with a small blue diamond shaped tile in the center of each one. How did Naruto know that? He'd found himself face down on that floor after tripping over a bundle of wires that Shisui was setting up.

Shisui crawled back out from underneath the table he'd been setting up under and, biting back a smile, said, "Sorry about that, Naruto."

Obito looked down at his cousin over the tray of pastries in his hands. "Who put you in charge of the technology? God knows you're terrible with it."

Shisui stood, taking the tray from him. "Blame your mother. How 'bout we switch jobs?"

Obito beamed and put his goggles down over his eyes. "I love the way your mind works." The photographer got beneath the table and began untangling the cables.

"Your mother might be burning the chicken, Obito." Someone warned.

They all turned towards the speaker. A woman whose light brown hair was braided down her back was setting the tables. She looked up and her green eyes were very bright against olive-toned skin as she smiled at them.

Shisui set the tray down on a long table that Naruto was assuming was for food before putting an arm around the woman's waist. Naruto noticed that her stomach was gently rounded in a way that meant she was pregnant. "Isabella does me the honor of being my wife."

"Shisui's told me a lot about you three." She held out a hand. "Naruto, isn't it?"

The blonde nodded, shaking her small hand that he noticed shook firmly. "Yup. Pleasure to meet you."

Shikamaru was next to greet her. "Congratulations on the new kid."

Isabella laughed, a sound like wind chimes. "You're observant. Shikamaru?"

"Got it in one."

Just as Isabella was going to greet Gaara, a woman that looked exactly like Mikoto came out. "Save the chit-chat. You guys have all night for that. We need to finish setting up."

Shisui grinned and told Naruto out of the corner of his mouth, "Can you tell she was a teacher?"

Naruto swallowed a laugh. "Yup. Who is she?"

"Obito's mom, Tomoko . Her and Mikoto were twins."

"Ah. That explains it. I'm gonna need to borrow the kitchen to make that cake. Can you get her out of there?"  
"Isabella can."

His wife looked at him with a long-suffering look. "The things I do for your pranks."

"But this one will be entirely worth it! And besides, you still love me after each and every prank."

"So long as my name doesn't get mentioned." She warned him and headed back into the kitchen, gesturing for Gaara, Shikamaru and Naruto to follow. Tomoko had a raw chicken in a pan in her hands. Isabella touched her gently on the shoulder and said, "Why don't you let me do the cooking? Chicken is my specialty."

"If you say so. And the boys?"

"I need their help. I'm rather short, you understand."

"Fine. I'll take care of the silverware."

Isabelle smiled real big. "You do that."

As soon as Tomoko was out into the main area, Isabelle said, "Get all your ingredients and get baking. I'm no baker, but I'm assuming this cake you have planned isn't a cupcake."

"You're assuming right. Thanks for getting her out of the kitchen."  
Gaara decided he could set up the trays of pastries they'd already baked because Tomoko wanted them a certain way because it complimented the walls or something like that. Gaara had sort of stopped paying attention after she started taking the trays and doing it herself.

Naruto stood at the counter, leaning on it in a way that allowed Shikamaru to stand next to him and see what he was sketching on a page from Gaara's notebook. "Here's what I'm thinking. Basic three tiered shape. You said we had some jam left? We can put that as some lining beneath the frosting-"

"Or the center of each layer could be hollow and we could fill it like that. We might have to make more jam though."

"I like that idea, but so that we don't have to make anymore jam, each layer can be a different flavor. One chocolate, one vanilla and you said we had some lemon? Lemon meringue for the top layer, since that's not as popular."

"Lemon meringue on a cake?"  
"No, as a flavor. It won't be actual lemon meringue, but we put enough of it in there so it tastes like it. And then we can put some jam in each. I can make the hole in the center of each layer small enough that we can probably portion out what jam we have."

"And the decorations?"

"We'll get to that while the cake gets baked."

"Works for me."

They could all hear when the rest of the family was coming a few hours later. It was impossible to miss, really. Through the wide windows, they could see the cars pulling up and everyone getting out. Gaara poked his head into the kitchen, blinking in surprise at his two friends, both of their clothes speckled with flour and streaks of what Gaara swore was jam on their cheeks. They were both at a table, Shikamaru icing the cake with white icing and Naruto going behind him, carefully placing various fruits along it.

"You guys do realize that they're here, right?"

Shikamaru looked up, momentarily distracted. "Already?"

"It's been like two, three hours."

"Crap. We still need to finish this _and_ clean _and_ change."

Gaara searched through the kitchen, finally finding a serviceable apron and putting it on. He was already in his dress clothes and was not getting them dirty. "I'll clean. Finish up that cake."

Naruto beamed at him from behind a floury mask. "Have I told you you're a godsend, Gaara?"

"Every time I save your butt."

Shisui came into the kitchen, surprised to see the cake sitting on the table, fully decorated and the counters clean and organized. The three friends, however, were sitting at the table, tired smiles on their faces.

"Hey, Shisui." Naruto greeted.

"You guys do know that you have to get clean and change, right?"  
"Don't remind us."

"Seriously, guys. Fugaku's getting ready for a speech or something and if you guys go to sit down halfway through it, he'll get annoyed."

"Just annoyed?"  
"Considering what you guys are doing with this cake, him annoyed already isn't a good idea."

Shikamaru and Naruto considered this for a moment and stood, going out the back entrance where Obito had parked the van. Taking their folded clothes out from the small backpack they'd brought and they took turns changing in the van. Fortunately for them, they were all relatively the same size, though almost any clothes tended to hang too loose on Shikamaru's frame, and it didn't really matter who stole whose shirt.

They washed their faces quickly in the kitchen sink and they'd helped brush the flour out of each other's hair. Naruto spread his arms and did a little spin to Gaara and Shisui. Black slacks hid his legs as well as Shikamaru's, and the white dress shirt with its cuffs rolled up. There were no ties on either of them, however, mostly because Naruto didn't like things around his neck and Shikamaru hadn't bothered to bring one.

Shikamaru finished tucking in his dark blue shirt into the slacks and reties his hair before they all step back out, sitting towards the back so they don't disturb much. For the most part, they ignore everything that Fugaku's saying, but raise their champagne glasses in a toast at the end. Sasuke's sitting at the table with his parents, looking uncomfortable, though Naruto knew it wasn't because of the suit.

Enough of the various Uchihas were all congratulating him and wishing him good luck and Naruto wondered if any of them had ever heard that it was bad luck to say good luck at things like this? Well, technically it was only on opening night, but Naruto figures that this counts.

Naruto eventually stood and strode over to the table and put a hand on Sasuke's shoulder, smiling politely at the gathered family members. "Apologies, everyone, but I need to borrow him for a moment. I need his opinion on a special pastry."

As soon as Sasuke got into the kitchen, the tension in his body seemed to seep out of him as he leaned on the counter. Then he noticed the cake on the table. "Tell me you didn't."

"It was Shisui's idea, not mine. I just went with it. But come on, can I get some points for last minute creativity? We just finished it like twenty minutes ago."

"I'll give you points for being either extremely brave or being extremely stupid."

"I think I'll take the former."

"…Thanks, by the way. For…getting me out of there."

"Well, any idiot can tell you weren't totally comfortable sitting there. And I wasn't lying. I wanted your opinion on it."

"Who else knows about the cake?"

"Other than Shisui and me? Shika and Gaara, obviously. And Obito and Isabella."

"I'm not surprised he got in on your prank. He used to, and still does; drive most of the family crazy."

Naruto laughed. "Well, considering we're getting out of the country tomorrow, I figure we can cause some mayhem. Out of curiosity," Sasuke didn't like the way that those crystalline eyes were sparkling with mischief. "What kind of music does your family play at things like this?"  
"Nothing good."

"I need to collaborate with Shika. He's good at these sorts of things. Or maybe Obito will help."

"You're insane. I'm serious."  
Naruto strolled up to him, hands in his pockets, a smile dancing on his lips. "So am I." A quick peck on the lips. "And you love me for it."

And he was back out into the main room, easily visible among the darker tones of the Uchihas and weaving through the crowds to get back to Shikamaru, bending down to lean on the brunette's shoulder and Sasuke could see him speaking, though he couldn't hear the words.

Sasuke looked back at the cake. It really was rather impressive. Nothing like the cakes you saw in store windows, all hardened sugar and flowers. Sasuke had always thought that those looked a little too fake. Naruto's cake was wonderfully simple in terms of decoration. Each layer of the cake had berries at regular intervals and at the top; there was a small structure of peaches and kiwis. And, in green and gold icing, the cake read, Congrats Sasuke in loopy letters. The Uchiha had a feeling that it hadn't been Naruto who'd written it, though he could be wrong. The baker had ways of surprising him at every turn.

Sasuke looked out into the main area at the first strains of music and he repressed a groan. Obito and Shikamaru were hunched over a laptop and lively salsa music was playing. Sasuke ran out, not daring to even glance in his parents' direction and found Gaara.

"If you're looking for him, he's out there." Gaara nodded at the square of space that was supposed to be a dance floor, though the Uchihas hadn't used it.

"Just have to make me dance, don't you?" Shikamaru asked the blonde. Naruto had semi-dragged him onto the dance floor.

Naruto gave him a look, their quick steps mirroring each others. "Try as you might to deny it, Shika, you like to dance. And you wouldn't let me look all awkward out here trying to dance on my own, would you?"

Naruto saw, over Shikamaru's shoulder, Obito gently pulling another cousin out of the crowd and onto the dance floor. A hand was on his upper arm and Naruto turned towards it automatically. Shikamaru slipped from his arms and Sasuke took his place.

"I was wrong. You're not insane. You're absolutely psychotic." Sasuke told him, awkwardly trying to match Naruto's movements.

"Not gonna deny that. But life needs a good dose of psychosis and insanity every once in a while. Else, how would you be able to appreciate the wonderfully mundane things?"

"…I thought about what you told me last night." Naruto didn't say anything, simply let Sasuke gather his thoughts. "I can't let what Itachi did for me go to waste, so I am going to take over the business. But I was thinking that maybe a vacation once a month wouldn't be so bad."

Naruto grinned, unable to help himself and kissed him, right in front of what amounted to his entire family. There was a few wolf whistles form what Naruto was guessing was Shisui and Shikamaru and cheering from Obito. Naruto pulled back and said, "Nope. Not bad at all. I'm guessing we shouldn't bring the cake out then?"  
"Don't even think about it." Sasuke murmured before going in for another kiss.

__

-/-/-/-/-/

**A/N:** I just found out I may be going to Australia next summer for a school program! I hope I can go, I love to travel.

This is the end of Baker's Love, sadly. But I take story requests if anybody has one.


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